Twilight: Dark Witch, part 2
by peregrin01
Summary: Cliche list: "Dark"Powerful!Bella, Awesome!Dhamphirs, Awesomer!Dhampquils, Rational!Wolves, Canon!(Tw)Ships, No!Angst, Fawkes!Returns, Wampire!Bella, Global!Effects
1. Awakened

Awakened

A captain entered the bridge of USS Ohio (an Ohio class submarine). He ignored the greetings of the night shift and walked straight to the sonar. The commander of the shift joined him.

"What is it?" he asked, still sleepy.

"You need to hear this," said the operator and started a playback.

The captain listened and then asked, "What was that? A landslide?"

"No, sir," answered the operator.

The shift commander cleared his throat and informed the captain, "Sir, it could be some kind of an accident, even though nothing is supposed to be here. Given the circumstances, I've ordered to slow down."

The captain pressed his hands against his face and rubbed his eyes. "Very well, stop the ship. We'll investigate this," he commanded.

It's hard to tell what would have happened to them if they had ignored the sound and continued at full speed. Alas, about two minutes after the submarine came to a stop, the hull of the ship shook and a terrible sound spread through it - a sound of a metal tearing. The effect wasn't as spooky as it would be in a WW2-era submarine because modern submarines have rubber suspension systems which prevent sounds from inside to escape outside. A moment later, the sound repeated. Louder and clearer. Unfortunately, the brains of the crew were incapable of making the obvious logical step and admitting that the sound was coming from the inside - that _something_ had torn its way to the inner hull.

Soon enough, the instruments on the bridge alerted the night shift that there was a flooding. The captain ordered to seal the compartment on his mark and called the area. Nobody picked it up. He gave the signal and called a neighbouring compartment. Some low ranking sailor answered the call and informed the captain that the situation was chaotic. The captain ordered emergency surface.

The chaos kept spreading through the ship. The captain ordered a shut-down of the reactor and was preparing to broadcast SOS when something tore out a steel door to the bridge and slaughtered everybody inside.

* * *

 **USA, Washington:**

Bella sat up and inspected herself for a moment.

"Bella?" addressed her Edward carefully.

Her head snapped to him and she asked something unexpected. "Was I moved? During my change, I mean."

Edward narrowed his eyes in confusion and shook his head.

"Very well. How's my daughter and what's the situation?"

"Elizabeth is fine but missing the mind link. She is in the cabin with most of the others. The Quileutes are disturbed but willing to give you both a benefit of a doubt. There were some magical discharges from you during the change, hence the cage you see." Edward felt as if he was giving a tactical report. Which he was, in a sense.

"Thank you. I need to talk to everybody."

"I would like you to feed first. Per your request, there are two deer tethered in the woods behind the house."

Bella nodded and let her husband to lead her. She pounced on the first buck while Edward knocked the other one out at the same time (toxins released by fear spoiled the taste of blood).

"Well, I think I'm full," said Bella after draining the second deer. True enough, blood was sloshing in her stomach. "Wait a minute, that has been a lot of blood!" she added. "How could all of it possibly... Never mind, it doesn't matter. Let's go."

The family assembled in the living room (minus Rosalie and Esme who were with Elizabeth on the top floor).

"You are keeping yourself quite under control," remarked Carlisle.

Bella's eyes flicked to Emmett who was standing by the stairs, blocking her way up, and replied, "Well, I've caught Elizabeth's scent from here but she doesn't smell like food. If you are referring to the thirst in general, I have to admit that it drains heavily on my ability to concentrate."

"Carlisle means that you don't behave like a newborn at all," explained Edward.

"Well, maybe my mother and Voldemort did something right for a change. It doesn't matter, I believe we have a problem."

The Cullens remained silent, waiting for her to explain. Jasper raised an eyebrow, Carlisle seemed to be worried.

"I'll ask again," continued Bella. "Was I moved or turned around during my change? The reason why I ask is rather obscure. As you know, I entered a state of deep meditation to escape the pain." Nobody remarked that it was Fawkes who helped her to do that. "And whilst in that state, I felt something. A distant echo. A disturbance in magic."

"And you want to locate it?" asked Edward.

"Indeed. So, was I moved?"

Edward answered, "We moved you to a bed after your change started. Other than that, you remained in exactly the same position in which you woke up for the whole time. What was the nature of the disturbance you felt?"

Bella closed her eyes and concentrated on her memory. "It was dark, ancient, hungry, evil. Definitely vampiric in nature."

"Are you sure it wasn't just a fluke in your perception?" asked Jasper. "Maybe some kind of imagination or hallucination caused by the change?" He wasn't sceptical but he wanted to be thorough.

Bella nodded and started to think about ways of confirming what she had sensed. Emmett interrupted her musings by another question, "Dark. Are you sure you didn't feel yourself changing? You know, like a kind of out of body experience."

"You know, there's a grey-darkish and there's pitch-black creepy dark," snapped Bella.

Edward gave Emmett a look but Emmett wasn't going to be deterred. "Well, it could have been some kind of a hidden program inserted into you by Voldemort."

"Then why did I feel it coming from a certain direction and distance?" asked Bella back, finally revealing why was she obsessing about being moved during her change.

"You can actually determine the location?" asked Jasper.

"Not precisely. It was thousands of kilometres away in about that direction." Bella pointed into the ground and made a circle with her arm to show the margin of error. She wasn't pointing directly under her feet, more like to west and south.

"Wait a minute," protested Emmett. "How could you feel it through all the rock and magma?"

"I wasn't sensing its energy," explained Bella. "The sensation was more spiritual in nature."

Carlisle brought a globe. While the others were computing the intersection of Bella's direction with the planet's surface, he asked her, "You've said that it was vampiric in nature. I assume you didn't mean our kind of vampiric."

"Indeed. It was definitely ancient. Not semi-ancient. Full fledged ancient."

"But all ancient vampires have been destroyed," reminded Edward, since somebody had to state the obvious.

"Which leads me to a theory that some semi-ancient has empowered himself somehow. In fact, it seems logical in hindsight. Aro had to panic when things didn't work out as he expected. Maybe he decided to do something drastic."

"You mean turning himself into an ancient?" asked Alice dubiously. "How would he achieve that?"

"Maybe he sacrificed Caius and Marcus and added their dark energy to his own?" proposed Emmett.

Jasper was about to throw a sceptical look at his brother when Bella uttered, "Maybe."

Carlisle shook his head in disagreement and argued, "That doesn't make any sense. What would Aro gain by that?"

"Maybe it isn't enough for him to have influence over wild vampires. Maybe he wishes to control semi-ancient ones as well."

"Wouldn't he become visible to some magical radars which were used in hunting the ancients down?" asked Rosalie from upstairs.

Edward shook his head and corrected her, "If I understand it correctly, last generation of ancients does not have such a distinctive signature, right?"

Bella nodded and supplemented, "Not to mention that there is no detection grid any more. There was no reason to maintain it after the war."

There was a moment of silence which Emmett exploited by saying, "What about the cage?"

"Excuse me?" asked Carlisle.

Emmett shook his head and said, "I know I'm repeating myself but Bella could have felt her own magic, being reflected back at her by the cage. She says that she doesn't feel that way and I believe her. But maybe there are some outward magical emissions which she doesn't know about which simply created a backfeed between her and the cage."

Bella rubbed her eyebrows. It was a remnant of human reflex. Truth to be told, however, most newborn vampires don't retain their human reflexes.

"I'll show Jasper and Edward how the echo felt," she replied. "Let them judge whether the echo feels like me or not."

She closed her eyes and replayed the memory. The empath and the telepath concentrated their senses on the memory and compared it with the way Bella usually felt to them - both as a human and newly as a vampire. Both of them glanced at Emmett and gave him a short shook of their heads.

Emmett was about to keep voicing his scepticism when Bella spoke. "Does your mind always feel so full?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Carlisle.

"I keep thinking about many things at the same time. I remember everything at the same time. I analyse it, cross-reference it..."

"That's perfectly normal," assured her Carlisle.

"Not for a newborn," whispered Jasper.

"Or me. I'm not letting my multi-tasking brain to bother me with more than two or three things at once," murmured Emmett in even a lower voice.

"Don't mind it, it will become a second nature to you," assured her Edward.

"You are using your brain nearly at its one-hundred percent capacity," explained Carlisle needlessly (he had discussed the matter with Bella before). "You'll get used to it. What's staggers us is the fact that you are able of this so soon."

"Maybe that's why I can't do magic yet," remarked Bella, ignoring the last sentence. "Magic is mostly subconscious for humans. I guess I'll have to learn how to do manually something which used to be automatic for me."

Jasper cleared his throat and spoke, "Excuse me, let's not forget the matter at hand. Unless Bella can provide us with more solid information, our only option is to notify my net of informers in the area to keep watch for anything unusual."

"Wait a minute," spoke out Emmett, looking at the result of their calculations. "What would Aro do on the East Coast? Isn't he still in Italy?"

Truth to be told though, the computed circle was actually more to the east.

Bella's eyes shifted to Alice who just shook her head (to communicate that she didn't see Aro - after all, she had never met him).

"We could ask our friends in the government," proposed Carlisle. "I'm sure there are wizards who have been keeping track of him for this whole time."

"I don't want to take any risks," stated Bella. "I don't want anybody to know that I know anything. Nor do I want anybody to know that there is anything special about me, as you claim."

"You know, there is a time when you simply have to trust someone," remarked Carlisle.

"Well, if you think that you can submit an inconspicuous query to them, then go ahead with it," conceded Bella. "However, I would like us to remain dark until we strike."

"You mean until the Volturi send somebody here?" asked Emmett.

"Exactly."

"That could be a long wait, if you are wrong," he observed.

"No, I'm not. Aro never lets anybody to slip from his grasp. The only reason why he let Aleazar go and why he spared Tanya is because he felt that he was going to use them later. Dimitry knows where they are. Aro will contact them soon, I'm sure of it."

"So, we are basically going to wait till Alice sees them and then we'll ambush them," commented Jasper.

"What if they intend to make their moves in Europe first?" asked Edward.

"Well, that would be a problem for European wizards," replied Jasper.

"The question is, are they going to face the problem, with all that's happening?" contended Carlisle.

Bella shook her head and spoke, "Look. I still believe that waiting till they come here is our best option. After the ambush, we'll approach Tanya and declare North America as a zone outside of the Volturi law. Europe will do the same, once they pull themselves together."

"And in the meantime?" asked Emmett.

"In the meantime, I can try to rediscover my magic. Which brings me to my further agenda. I should start working on my magic as soon as possible but I would like to see Elizabeth first."

The others looked at each other nervously. Edward said nothing but Carlisle cleared his throat and protested, "That wouldn't be a good idea. As you know, she has a beating heart and flowing blood."

Bella's eyes narrowed so Edward quickly added, "She may not smell like food to you but it would be better to wait for a while."

"Very well, later then," conceded Bella. "Still, I would like to see her from distance at least."

The meeting concluded. Jasper went to contact his informants while Carlisle composed a message for John Smith. Rose and Esme carried Elizabeth to a window while Bella and Edward walked out. Once they were by the river, Esme opened a window.

While vampires have perfect vision, they are still limited by the diameter of their pupils. Hence, seeing Elizabeth from distance was a poor substitute for actually meeting her. It had to do for the moment. Still, she couldn't but notice how grown up she was. Bella wasn't startled by that. If anything, she felt that the fast growth rate was convenient given the situation. She also noticed that she had bronze hair, like Edward.

Edward and Bella jumped over the river and ran to a small clearing which was a few paces away.

"So, your magic," Edward broached the subject.

Bella closed her eyes, concentrated for a split of a second and then answered, "I can still feel it inside me but I can't touch it for some reason."

"Because your neural ways have been rewired?"

"Maybe."

Edward twirled with his hand and reported, "Well, I still can't hear your mind."

 _"And now? And now?"_ thought Bella, once into her quantum entanglement wristwatch, once at the forefront of her mind.

"Yes and yes," answered Edward, repeating the words through his own wristwatch as well.

"Well, and I can still feel your thoughts on the other side of my communicator," observed Bella. "Would you mind...?"

"Of course," agreed Edward and they made an eye contact.

"Well, everything seems to be in order on this score," informed him Bella after a while.

"Maybe because you were actively utilizing your occlumency during your change?"

"Maybe. And maybe my mother and Voldemort made me this way. After all, I was supposed to replace Aro."

Edward raised his finger, shook his head, and reminded her, "Your mother said, quote: Or did you think that you can cast the killing curse from your bare hands because you are exceptional? Unquote. Wouldn't that suggest that they meant for you to be able to do that as well?"

Bella raised her hands unsurely and theorized, "Maybe that was supposed to work only during my human life? You know, so I could take care of myself in case something unexpected happened? That being said, I think I can still feel the power of the killing curse inside me. I just have no idea how to project it outside."

Edward nodded. Then something occurred to him and he proposed another theory, "We are presuming that you were changed the way they intended you to be changed. Maybe you weren't supposed to become a wild vampire. Maybe they possessed some means to make you into something more ancient."

"How would they do that?"

Edward snapped his fingers and continued, "Maybe that thing you've felt was kept in captivity by them till now. But they are dead now and the thing escaped."

Bella stared at him for a moment. "You know, that sounds like something Emmett would come up with."

"Now hold on, it isn't that far fetched. Why else would it be on the East Coast instead of in Europe?"

"Because they knew where I was for the whole time?"

"Well, your escape to America is kind of an obvious move in hindsight. Maybe they had always planned to do the whole thing right here so you could build your power base as far from Aro as possible."

Bella just shook her head and grinned a little. They sat in silence for a minute.

Finally, Edward spoke again, "There is another thing to consider. About your magic, I mean."

"And that is?"

"You are thinking about the abilities you've possessed as a human. But you are not a human any more - your essence is different now. Both Jasper and me can sense it. Wouldn't that imply that your magic is going to be different now? I mean completely different."

Bella thought about it for a while and replied, "Well, that sounds quite plausible actually. We'll see. It reminds me of my wand though - I should try to hold it."

"I've come prepared," said Edward and produced a thin box.

Bella reached for it but retracted her hand again out of fear of crushing it. She held her hand to Edward, palm up, and asked him to place the wand on it.

"I feel nothing," she said after a few moments. "There should be some kind of a connection but the wand does not recognize me. As if I wasn't even here."

"Well, maybe the connection can't pass through your skin."

"That's possible but not probable. After all, the connection between a wizard and a wand is a spiritual one. The essence theory makes more sense - the wand doesn't see me as me, it doesn't see me as a witch."

She held her hand to Edward again and he collected the wand.

"Store it. Maybe Teddy will use it one day."

Edward nodded and put the wand back in the box. Bella spent next few hours meditating, trying to reach her magic, while Edward watched over her from afar. He used that time to contemplate all that had occurred since Bella had awoken. He couldn't say that he was surprised by any of it but he wondered what was the future going to look like for the three of them (him, Bella, and their daughter). He hoped that they would be a real family but at the moment, he didn't have much faith that such a picture would come in fruition completely.

Edward's pondering was interrupted by the end of Bella's meditation.

"Have you made any progress?" he asked.

"Not really," she answered. "I guess it's going to be a longer run."

They discussed the matter of Bella meeting Elizabeth. Edward knew better than to outright tell her that it wasn't safe yet. Instead, he listed his concerns.

"Should we test my self control on some random passing hikers?" proposed Bella.

"That would be unwise," disagreed Edward. "Look, Rose and Esme are about to tuck her in. She slept almost through whole night yesterday, waking only once to be fed. Maybe we should leave it for tomorrow morning?"

Bella frowned and asked, "And what about her? Does she want to see me?"

"She saw you today," reminded her Edward. "To answer your question, she would like to meet you but she understands that it would be better to wait. Plus, Fawkes is keeping her company so I think she will fall asleep even without you."

"Fawkes?"

Edward quickly explained.

"I've got an idea. Go there and giver her you wristwatch," proposed Bella.

Edward narrowed his eyes and argued, "But she can't read minds."

"No, but maybe I will be able to sense her and she will know that I do."

Edward could patch Bella through to Elizabeth but that wasn't the same, at least not for Elizabeth.

Edward nodded and ran off. When he returned to the house, Rose was putting his daughter to a crib already. He asked Rose and Fawkes to leave and approached the crib.

"Your mother would like you to have this for tonight," he told the newborn. He almost said "mummy" but stopped himself in time. "It's magical. If you hold on to it and focus, she will hear you."

Elizabeth grasped the wristwatch in her tiny fists and concentrated, pushing her thoughts to the forefront of her mind. After a while, Edward smiled, stroked her hair and told her, "She can't hear exactly what you think but she can feel you on the other side. Go to sleep now, mummy will watch over you. She can't wait to meet you tomorrow." He failed to prevent himself from saying the word the second time around.

"Tomorrow?" repeated Rosalie after Elizabeth fell asleep and Edward left the room (Esme slipped in right afterwards to watch the little dhampir sleep). There was a hint of disagreement in Rosalie's voice.

"I think it would be for the best," confirmed Edward. "Bella is in complete control over herself. We aren't going to test it on humans because that's a whole another level but I think we can do this safely."

"What if..." started Rose and stopped herself. She failed to stop her thoughts though. _"What if she has an ulterior motive? What if she wants to regain her human magic by consuming her own daughter?"_

"If you think that, then you don't know Bella at all!" snapped Edward. He turned his head toward the nursery door and motioned that they should move the discussion elsewhere.

"She loves her daughter and takes her new role of a mother very seriously!" he snarled once they were downstairs.

"I didn't say anything out loud!" protested Rosalie. "Stop policing my thoughts!"

They didn't discuss the matter any further.

Bella returned to the house shortly after Elizabeth fell asleep. She approached Jasper and asked him whether they shouldn't talk to Quileutes.

"I don't know," he answered. "We should verify this thing first."

"Indeed," agreed Bella. "Alas, it presents us with a new possibility."

"And that is?"

"A new common problem. After Voldemort's death and my transformation, there wasn't much to bind us together. That is, apart from that little plan of ours concerning the guard. But if there is an ancient vampire out there..."

"Then the Quileutes might be willing to cooperate again," finished Jasper.

"I don't it's a good idea to try to manipulate them like that," protested Carlisle. "Like Jasper said, we don't know if it's a vampire."

"Well, we'll just tell them what we know so far," insisted Bella. "Let them make whatever they want from it."

And so it happened that Bella called Billy that evening.

"Billy? It's me," said Bella when he picked it up.

"Bella?" he responded. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you. So soon, I mean."

"I know. Something came up though. We have a new information. We have not verified it yet but I think Sam and the others should know. Could you tell them to meet us tonight?"

Billy wasn't expecting that apparently and remained silent for a few seconds. "Very well," he said finally. "Where?"

"Right here, if they are willing," supplied Carlisle when Bella looked at him. Bella repeated it to Billy.

The meeting occurred an hour later. Sam arrived with Jacob and Jared. Jacob and Jared made sure to comment on Bella's new appearance. The Cullens told them everything they knew and used the globe to show them the probable area from where the echo had originated.

Jared looked at the marked circle and observed, "What makes you think it's the East Coast? As I see it, it could have been somewhere in the Caribbean area as well."

"Yes, or in a middle of Atlantic," remarked Jacob.

"No, seriously," insisted Jared. "That area has a huge necromantic folklore..."

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Sam. "For all we know, it's nothing."

"Well, he was right about the ants," reminded Emmett everyone. "Maybe it's some kind of an undead pirate."

Sam raised his hands sharply and stated, "OK, we are dully noting the information. Keep us posted if anything else comes up."

"We shall," acknowledged Bella.

They stood there in silence for two seconds. Then Jacob asked, "And what about the little one?"

Bella looked at him and retorted, "She's sleeping. And no, you may not see her now. I haven't even met her myself yet for crying out loud."

"I haven't said that," defended Jacob himself.

"No, but you've thought that."

Everybody felt silent for a second.

"You've been reading my mind?" asked Jacob.

"No, actually not," answered Bella slowly, being surprised herself.

"Well, I've heard that too," confirmed Edward. "But you couldn't possibly get it from me - Elizabeth has my wristwatch."

"It's passive mind reading, I think," explained Bella. "It's quite common among true masters but I was never able to do it myself, my senses weren't keen enough. The thing is, Jacob, your shield must have gotten really rusty."

"I didn't know that I had to protect my mind around you," snapped Jacob back.

"That's not just it," insisted Bella. "You've literally shouted the thought at me. I wouldn't be able to hear it otherwise."

"And you are still thinking it," added Edward. "Why is it so important?"

"Well, you can't deny that her behaviour will greatly influence our future cooperation," explained Jacob. "I think you can easily imagine what would happen if she grew to be feral. You would defend her at all cost and that would place us in a really difficult position. And not just us. Mrs. Tonks would have to notify your magical friends. It would be a messy situation."

Bella and Edward looked at each other.

"Very well," said Bella. "We'll arrange something up. Later. When she's able to walk and when I'm more stable."

"Fair enough," answered Sam instead of Jacob.

"That was weird," remarked Emmett when the wolves left.

"Tell me about it," uttered Bella. She looked around and mused, "Well, it's a long time till morning. What are we going to do since then?"

Emmett started to grin so Edward quickly asked, "What would you like to do?"

"Would it be a good idea to try some wrestling?"

"I think we should leave that till later."

"Very well," conceded Bella. "However, I believe you should give me some crash-course as soon as possible. I need to be prepared for the Volturi. So let's move to next best thing. It should help me concentrate as well."

"And that is?" asked Emmett mischievously.

Five minutes later, Bella found herself at a make-shift target range. She was using a suppressed SMG (she didn't want to wake Elizabeth up nor was she willing to go too far away).

"This is fabulous!" she commended her own skills. All the shots went right in the middle of her target.

"This is nothing," observed Edward. "When it comes to firearms, our strength is in hitting moving targets even at long distances and under unfavourable weather conditions. As you know, a bullet can cause a significant damage even beyond what is considered an effective range. However, trajectory of a bullet becomes ballistic..."

"Yes, yes, I know," interrupted him Bella. "I'm just enjoying myself a little since I wasn't such a good shot as a human."

"Well, it's a long time till morning," remarked Edward and picked up a few stones. He started tossing them at Bella while she was still reloading.

* * *

Elizabeth opened her eyes. It was early morning already. The final two hours of her slumber left her groggy somewhat. Jasper (and the others as well, to some extent) had noticed that her metabolism had slowed down after all the nutrients from her last meal were used up. Alas, it (her metabolism) was already speeding up a little and burned all sleep hormones away before the feeling of grogginess could confuse her. Then she realized how ravenous she was.

Elizabeth opened her mouth and was about to cry out when Edward entered her field of vision, a bottle of blood at hand. The little dhampiresa drank greedily.

"Interesting," remarked Jasper in next room. He and Emmett were preparing for a first meeting between Bella and her daughter.

"What is?" asked the new mother.

"Her hunger," specified Jasper. "She isn't thirsty like we are. It's truly more like hunger. Human hunger."

Emmett snorted and countered, "Or like a hunger of an alien species which wants to grow to a breeding age as quickly as possible!"

He was entertaining a new conspiracy theory: the Mesopotamian necromancers had used alien DNA to create the first vampires. Bella had to give it to him - there was no way to disprove such a thesis.

Elizabeth finished her breakfast and burped. With her hunger sated, she started to miss the warmth of her crib. She didn't mind being held by the vampires but the fact remained that they were cold. Edward tucked her back in and took his wristwatch back (Elizabeth had dropped it while she had been sleeping).

"Elizabeth?" he addressed her after a while. The child looked back at him.

"Would you like to meet your mother?" he asked.

 _"Yes!"_ answered Elizabeth through her mind enthusiastically and nodded.

"Very well. I'll let you rest for a while longer."

Edward left and was replaced by Esme who started to prepare clothes for Elizabeth.

A quarter an hour later, Esme and Rose brought Elizabeth downstairs. Bella was already there. Emmett and Jasper were clutching her arms. Edward and Carlisle were prepared midway between Bella and her daughter.

Bella sniffed at the air. "I should be all right," she told the others. "She smells better than the wolves but it's still obvious to me that she isn't food."

"Indeed," agreed Carlisle. "I think it means that blood of a dhampir is incompatible with metabolism of a vampire."

Jasper thought to Edward, _"With all that's coming, it would be good to know how would her blood react to venom."_

Edward wasn't irritated by that remark. After all, Bella already briefed Elizabeth about the dangers of the world before she was even born.

Bella and Elizabeth were looking at each other from opposite sides of the room. Noting her irises, Bella had a brief thought that Elizabeth had eyes and hair similar to Harry's mother.

Finally, she asked, "Elizabeth? Would you like me to..." She trailed off and pointed at her eyes.

Elizabeth understood and nodded. She missed the link but she felt trepidation. She suspected that the experience would be different.

Her presumption was proven correct immediately after Bella established the connection. While Elizabeth's human mother's mind had been soft and warm, this new presence was sharp like a blade and hard like steel. Bella terminated the link immediately. Elizabeth made a disappointed sound. Not because the link was terminated, but because it was clear that she would never regain what she once had had with her mother. Fawkes chose that moment to land on a windowsill.

"I'm sorry," soothed Bella. "My mind is different now. Just like yours is."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding.

"I think I can handle being a little bit closer," stated Bella. It sounded like a request and it was one. She didn't want to force the issue though, she knew that the others weren't going to make any compromises when it came to Elizabeth's safety.

"Well, bringing you a little bit closer won't harm, I guess," agreed Jasper, who was monitoring Bella's mood.

Bella and her daughter found themselves two meters away from each other. They studied each other for a minute or two.

"Well, I know one thing for certain," spoke Bella finally. "You are the most extraordinary creature I've ever met. With the possible exception of..." Fawkes pushed his chest out proudly. "...dragons," finished Bella.

* * *

 **Two days later:**

"Ha! I've got it!" cried Bella out.

Edward was roused from his relaxation (which involved laying on his back and observing clouds). He stood up and turned to his wife. She was levitating a stone.

"Well done. It's coming back to you," commended her Edward. He was talking silently so he wouldn't disturb Bella. Not that he thought that disturbing a vampire would be as simple as disturbing a human.

"Hm, maybe I could do even better," mused Bella and dropped the stone. She walked over to a fallen tree and started to concentrate again. "Holler if somebody comes this way," she asked Edward.

There was nobody in the area so Edward just watched as the tree rose from the ground, tearing free from any under-brush growing around it. Once the trunk was high enough, Bella turned it vertical and smashed it into a boulder, thinner end first. The trunk was somewhat mouldy but the resulting explosion of splinters was still spectacular.

Bella breathed out, as if winded out. Edward noticed that her eyes dimmed momentarily.

"Telekinesis. That's great," commented Edward. "I'm quite sure you wouldn't be able to do that as a human. Range and precision are bound to be greater as well, I'm sure of that."

Alas, Bella didn't seem to share his enthusiasm. As the initial joy of being able to do magic once again subsided, she realized what kind of magic she did (if it was magic at all).

"Great indeed," she sneered at herself. "I'm a vampire now! What kind of use could I possible have for telekinesis?!"

Fawkes, who had been observing the whole thing, snickered and flew away.

 _Note for FFNET:  
This is second part of "Twilight: Dark Witch" (The Witch's Tale). It's called "The V(/W)ampire's Tale" and concludes the story. If you've read the first part recently, there's no need to re-read it but this story contains minor characters from it and references to events in it. _


	2. Incoming

Incoming

Just like with Ginny's call to come to Hogwarts, the Cullens weren't really surprised when Alice got the vision which they were waiting for.

At the time, Edward was teaching Bella some basic usage of a computer. On her own request. That request had raised some incredulous reactions from Emmett. After all, Bella had once led all the Cullens to believe that she had gotten all her information from Internet. Rosalie and Esme were with Elizabeth, teaching her to speak. It was something which was better left to them, since Elizabeth had no motivation to speak aloud to her telepathic parents. Carlisle was away at work.

Suddenly, Edward raised his head from the computer screen and looked in the direction of the alchemy cottage. That was where Alice and Jasper resided for most of their time (to avoid Elizabeth's jamming effect).

``Jasper is calling us," he said, loud enough for all the other vampires to hear.

It was agreed quickly that Esme and Emmett would stay behind with Elizabeth while Edward, Bella, and Rose would go to the cottage. They were going to discuss everything again that evening anyway.

They arrived to the shed about minute after Jasper called them. He was using his gift to keep Alice ``tuned in".

``Very well, five members of the guard," described Edward. It was clear to everybody that he meant ``five members of the guard arriving to Denali".

Edward referenced the images in Alice's mind with Carlisle's recollections of his time in Voltera. As he identified all the major members, he said their names: ``Demetri, Felix, Jane."

``No Chelsea?" remarked Bella, not really meaning it as a question. She was probably Aro's most important asset and Bella had killed her mate, Afton.

Alice came out of the vision then, unable to maintain it any longer.

``Well, I guess we shall proceed as planned?" uttered Jasper. Once again, it wasn't truly a question.

``We need to know their vector of approach," stated Bella. Yet another obvious thing, they had agreed in early stages of planning to intercept the guard before they would reach Tanya's coven.

``Can you go back there, Alice?" asked Edward. ``We could decide, let's say, to go there and see where are they coming from."

``I think so," replied Alice. ``It would be better if there wasn't such a crowd around."

Jasper looked at Edward and Bella. Both of them were essential at the moment. Finally, he looked at Rosalie.

``I'll brief the others," said Rosalie. That was very humble from her, noted Edward. She had changed during last year.

They left Alice sitting in front of a fireplace. Jasper hovered by the door, prepared to help Alice once again. Edward and Bella moved to a next room.

It took some time before Alice caught the vision again. Alas, nothing changed - they hit a paradox. They couldn't decide to intercept them at their destination because they had agreed already to intercept them before that.

Edward puled out a map and studied it for a moment. Jasper joined him.

``I think it's obvious that they are going to come from here," theorized Jasper.

``If they are going to come straight to them once they arrive to North America," muttered Edward.

They had more luck next time around. Alice and Edward saw a group of Cullens intercepting the Volturi. Carlisle was there but the other figures were still shrouded.

Alice stayed in trance while Jasper and Edward plotted new ambush spots, more and more distanced from Tanya's home. It took hours but in the end, they found out that the group intended to land in Anchorage and continue to Denali on foot. Edward and Jasper picked an ideal ambush spot and verified its suitability through Alice.

``Very well, we'll need to discuss this with the others," said Bella, rubbing her hands. She had an idea for a perfect surprise already.

Edward called the hospital and gave him a cryptic message about Alice's vision.

``Well, I think we should discuss this in a broader circle this evening," replied Carlisle equally cryptically. He was referring to the pack, of course.

Jasper called Billy Black and asked him to relay the news to the others.

And so it happened that most of the pack and Andromeda Tonks arrived at the Cullens' house that evening. Edward remained with Elizabeth, because he could be present on the meeting through his mind. All the others were assembled in the dining room. There was a whiteboard with a blown-up map of the ambush area attached to it by magnets.

``Thank you all for coming," started Jasper. ``As you might have guessed, this concerns a group of Volturi guards which will arrive in Alaska in foreseeable future. Now, some of you might be wary of yet another joint effort with us but Bella has come up with a plan which won't require you to join in any fight. Optimally, there won't be any fighting at all." He nodded at the newborn vampire as he finished.

``Basically, we are going to pull a confidentiality trick on them," started Bella. ``We shall exploit their trust in Carlisle, if he is up to it, and then we'll poison them."

There was a moment of silence.

``Excuse me? What do you mean by that?" asked Jarred.

``We'll ask them to confer with us, we'll offer them refreshments. The refreshments will be poisoned."

Carlisle, who momentarily stopped brooding over the fact that he was going to be used in some dirty trick, asked Bella how she planned to do that.

``Actually, it will be more like a violent chemical reaction, triggered by human blood. That way, you'll be able to drink while they'll get incapacitated."

``What about you, if you are going to be there?" asked Edward.

``I'll only pretend that I'm drinking."

``Won't the blood in the drinks themselves trigger the reaction?" asked Andromeda.

``There won't be any human blood in those drinks."

``Good luck making them drink that," muttered Emmett.

``Wait a minute, what do you actually need from us?" asked Sam.

``Well, nothing ever goes the way we plan it," answered Bella. ``Should somebody slip through our fingers, we'll need somebody to block their retreat until we catch up. And to keep an eye for any unwanted surprises but that is something which half of our family will be doing anyway."

Sam probably wanted to ask more questions but Jasper spoke first and elaborated on what Bella said, ``If that's all right with everybody, I think only four of us should meet the guard. Carlisle has to be there, of course. I think Bella, Edward and Esme should accompany him."

``And what if something goes wrong?" asked Carlisle, who disliked the idea of putting Esme on the front line without a proper backup.

Esme touched his arm and said, ``That's why Edward and Bella are going to be there. Moreover, I believe that the four of us have the biggest chance of making them trust us. This wouldn't work on normal vampire probably but if the Volturi are as civilized as you claim, then they are going to react better and trust you more if you appear with a lovely wife of your arm."

``Yes, exactly," agreed Bella, struck by a sudden inspiration. ``Carlisle, an old friend of the Volturi. Esme, his wife, will be slightly behind him. Now, let's get creative about Edward. Let's say that he's Esme's biological son from her human life."

``What?" cried several people at once.

``Yes, Esme ran from her husband and returned for Edward a few years later, because he was being abused. Now, Edward spent the next century moping around until I met you and married him. The four of us have been working together ever since."

Bella's idea was shot down eventually. They decided to say as little as possible to limit the amount of lies (and, in extension, the probability of being exposed). However, the decision to present a mild face by having only the agreed four meet them stood. The rest of the plan was to lead them to a nearby cottage for a proper discussion and (poisoned) ``refreshments". There was also an idea to station Emmett there as Carlisle's ``butler" but they couldn't decide whether that wouldn't alarm the guards.

As the discussion progressed, it became clear that the wolves (and Andromeda) weren't as enthusiastic about the upcoming operation as some of the Cullens. That was hardly surprising. After all, Bella and the Cullens had lied to them. The feeling of cohesion they had felt after the anthill incident and battle of Hogwarts was mostly gone.

``OK, Jacob, say it out loud," said Bella finally. Truth to be told, Edward asked her to do that through their wristwatches. He had been observing his thoughts and Jasper's readings on him for the whole time.

The addressed scratched his head and said, ``Look, if you want us to trust you, you'll have to trust us in return."

Bella folded her arms and stated icily, ``You are talking about seeing my daughter, I presume."

``Well, most people would feel much better."

``I've told you already that you can see her when she's older. Plus, she's not some kind of a curiosity to be ogled!"

Andromeda cleared her throat and sneered, ``Well, then I guess the whole operation can wait till she's older."

``Now wait a minute!" exclaimed Bella. ``This operation is in the best interest of us all!"

``That's disputable," argued Sam. ``However, we have agreed to join you on this. We'll stick to the agreement. That changes nothing about the fact that it would be better if we could trust each other. Why don't you let your aunt to inspect the child, Bella?"

``Inspect?" screeched Bella. ``I have problems with even letting her to meet Elizabeth!"

Sam pinched his nose and corrected himself, ``Yes, that's what I've meant. Just let her to take a look at her and we'll drop this. After all, you have nothing to hide, right?"

``Excuse me," disagreed Jacob. ``Mrs. Tonks does not have a mental connection with the rest of the pack. However, if one of us saw the girl, the whole pack would see that there is no danger."

``One of us," repeated Sam. ``Meaning you."

``Well..."

``Why is it so important to you?" asked Bella. ``If you weren't such an open book to two telepaths and and empath, I would suspect you that you are some kind of an assassin!"

Bella fell silent, as a thought suddenly came to her. Jacob made a show of rolling his eyes.

``How did we get those motorbikes?" asked Bella suddenly.

Jacob blinked in surprise. Then he understood and gave a very precise answer.

``Why have you sent me to a muggle boarding school?" turned Bella at her aunt.

``Because I didn't like you. Still don't. Oh, wait a minute. Because you broke my daughter's arm. That's the answer you want to hear, right? Well, that was just an excuse."

Bella looked back and forth between Andromeda and Jacob and said, ``Anybody could obtain those informations."

Jacob shook his head and asked, ``Look, you don't really suspect that we would harm the kid, do you? After all, Charlie vouched for her already. We just need to see for ourselves, that's all."

``No, but my aunt could try to whisk my daughter away into some wizarding hospital where Elizabeth would be poked and prodded for who knows how long!"

Edward called from upstairs, ``This is getting ridiculous. Fawkes just arrived and should anything happen, he can protect her."

Bella still wasn't convinced. The whole thing seemed weird to her but she couldn't tell why.

``Very well, you can come, Jacob," she said in the end. The she turned to her aunt. ``As for you, either leave your wand here or stay here. Both of you will be required to do exactly as we say. Do you get me?!"

``Sir! We get you, sir!" bellowed Jacob mockingly.

Sam didn't say anything but he was coming to a conclusion that bloating the whole thing like that wasn't worth the damage on their alliance with the vampires. He accepted the wand from Andromeda. He was quite surprised that she was willing to surrender it just to see her grandniece.

Jacob and Andromeda followed Bella upstairs. A short while later, what had to happen, happened. In retrospective, it wasn't so surprising because everything that had occurred before finally made sense with it.

The pack had never really needed to see the child - Charlie's word had been enough for them. At most, it would have been enough for them if Andromeda had seen Elizabeth as well. No, it had been Jacob's hunch which had infected the whole pack gradually.

``You have to be kidding me!" yelled Bella.

Fawkes flew away as soon as it was clear that he wasn't needed. He landed on a backrest of a couch. He seemed to be in a good mood because he was flapping his wings around like a drunken parrot of a drunken sailor and was opening his beak and making sounds as if he was laughing.

``She's just a few weeks old!" added Edward.

``I know, dammit!" defended Jacob himself. ``It's not like..."

``Yes, I know it's not like it. You can wait till she's fully grown up. That doesn't change the fact that child grooming is child grooming. And that means that this is the last time you've seen her for next several years!"

Jacob opened his mouth but was unable to respond to that.

``That wouldn't be such a problem," disagreed Bella. ``After all, it's not like he's going to manipulate her into fighting an evil wizard. Not to mention that an extra bodyguard wouldn't hurt and Alice can't see her future anyway. What I'm talking about is the fact that she's related to you, sicko! Do you want to have demented children with her?"

Her words disgusted everybody around, including Jacob. Still, he answered, ``I'm not related to her any more than Leah is related to Teddy. Jeez! I can't even believe that you talk about such things. And for all we know, it may not even be a possibility."

``The hell it isn't! You wouldn't imprint on her otherwise. And don't tell me that it's about anything else!"

``Are we really having this discussion? By the way, doesn't it sort of prove that there's no danger from that whole thing about being related?"

``Well, her genetic superiority could override that. Who knows what sort of criteria this sense of yours considers?"

``Stop discussing that, you two!" shouted Edward. ``It's inappropriate and Elizabeth can hear you!"

Amongst the chaos, nobody paid attention to Jarred as he approached the door to the nursery. That is, Carlisle watched him but he saw no reason to stop him or draw attention to him.

Jarred peeked in, waved, and said, ``Hello, little one."

Elizabeth waved back at him.

``Hey, what are you doing there?" barked Bella at him.

``Well, I've figured out that the no-seeing rule is over since we obviously pose no threat."

``That was never it. I've told you, this isn't a zoo. Now get out of there."

``Look, Bella, I have just this to say," addressed her Jacob once again. ``When you arrived here almost a year ago, we accepted you as a family. Then you were turned which sort of made it difficult to perceive you as such any longer. But this, this binds us together and makes us a family again."

``No, it makes us in-laws. And you should remember that I come from a world where neither means that people can't kill each other. At least in praxis."

Edward ignored Bella's reply and burst out, ``So that how it is? You want us to look at this politically and simply consider her a price for your continued alliance and cooperation?"

``No!" protested Jacob.

Edward paid him no attention and continued, ``Well, it isn't happening. If I remember correctly, even Mrs. Tonks over there refused an arranged marriage."

``Even me?" repeated Andromeda, who was resting in a nearby couch. The sudden turn of events made her tired a little bit.

The house was full of voices, arguing one over another. Finally Carlisle decided that enough was enough and clapped loudly.

``Silence!" he bellowed. ``This meeting is over, we can cover the remaining details later. As for Jacob and Elizabeth, there is no point in discussing it when the issue is still fresh. All the relevant people need to think about it. Sleep on it, in Jacob's case."

Jacob sighed in frustration and tried to reason, ``Look, I..."

``Don't make me repeat myself," interrupted him Carlisle. ``If you don't leave, the boys will carry you out. That's not a threat, that's an accurate prediction of their reaction."

Andromeda was last to leave. She hovered by the door and considered whether she shouldn't say something. In the end, she realized that she had nothing to say to Bella.

``Well, that was something," commented Emmett when the door closed behind the witch.

Carlisle turned to Edward and Bella and told them, ``I don't wish to tell you two how to run your family but I believe that the best course of action is to talk to Elizabeth for a while so she would understand that there's nothing to worry about. It's time for her to go to sleep and she won't if she worries. You can talk to her properly tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I advise you to discuss this between you two. It seemed to me that you weren't quite in agreement how to look at this."

Edward and Bella nodded wordlessly. However, Elizabeth wasn't worried, as they found out soon enough. She was merely curious about the sudden change of the wolves' attitude. She asked about it through her mind.

``Sweetie," started Bella, fumbling for words. She had never used such an endearing term before. ``The wolves have a special sense which can tell them when a person can be trusted. Not only that, it tells them when somebody is like them."

Elizabeth didn't understand that last bit.

``Don't worry about it, it's not important," said Edward. ``We'll talk about it tomorrow."

That was a lie, from a certain point of view. Objectively speaking, it was quite important. However, it was true that Elizabeth was free to ignore it.

Bella and Edward went to the cottage that night to discuss the new development in the dynamics of their relationship with the pack. They didn't bother to talk out loud actually and rather opted to use a full telepathic link. They had tried that before since Bella had awoken but only for practice.

They agreed on several points before dawn and decided to lay them out to Jacob later that day. Their more immediate plan was to talk to their daughter again. Once she was through her morning routine (feeding and such), the three of them convened in the nursery.

``Elizabeth, I'm sure you have noticed that we are different from you," started Edward. ``We are cold and you are warm, warmer than humans. You sleep, we do not. You eat every day, we don't. These differences are insignificant to you while you are a child."

Elizabeth watched him, not really seeing where her father was going yet.

Edward continued, ``When you grow bigger, you'll want to see more of the world than our family and you'll start exploring the human world - at least the non-magical one. However, you are not like humans either. When you become an adult, you'll want more from life than vampires or humans can provide. Fortunately, there is one place where there are people who are like you and who should be willing to accept you the way you are."

 _``The wolf people,"_ observed Elizabeth.

``Yes, indeed. Now, the important thing to understand is that you don't need to worry about those things. What I'm trying to tell you is that you are going to have options in the future."

Bella spoke afterwards, ``Who knows, maybe this won't be as important as we think right now. Maybe you'll become a skilful witch and you'll become an important member of the magical society. Or you'll be a scientist and you'll work for the government. But no matter what, you'll always be accepted and loved unconditionally in two places: here, in this family, and in La Push. Do you understand me?"

Truth to be told, Elizabeth found all of that rather confusing. Moreover, she remembered that her mother mentioned children when she argued with Jacob. Nonetheless, she nodded.

``Good. Now forget everything I've said and be a small child again."

There was one thing Bella wasn't sure about though and she started to regret saying it. Jacob would always love Elizabeth, there was no doubt about that. However, they didn't know what was the stance of the rest of the tribe going to be. Yet another they had to talk with Jacob about.

And talk they did. They met him in the woods at the boundaries of the pack territory. He seemed apprehensive.

``Very well, we had time to cool down and to discuss the matter," opened Bella.

``And?" asked Jacob.

``We would like to know the reactions of the others first," retorted Edward.

``Their reactions?"

``What do they think about Elizabeth?" clarified Edward.

Jacob made no answer.

Bella sighed and admonished him, ``You haven't even bothered to find out. Don't you think it's sort of important?"

``And what are they supposed to think?" defended Jacob himself. ``They know nothing about her except that she's my imprint and that she's a child. Unless you have forgotten, you kicked us all out yesterday. And why is it important anyway?"

Bella and Edward shortly summarised what they had told their daughter.

``Well, let me meet her properly," proposed Jacob, who was gradually becoming more and more nervous. ``If I get to know her, I can relay what I learn to others."

``I don't think so," refused Bella.

That angered Jacob and he opened his mouth to argue.

``Listen to me, Jacob," stopped him Edward, raising his hand. ``As we've said, we have discussed this. When Elizabeth is older, it will be her decision who does she want to spend her time with and what does she want to do with her life. Until that time, we are responsible for her and we get to decide what's best for her. And I don't think letting her to get used to you at this age would be good for either of you."

Jacob wanted to speak again but Edward heard his thoughts and interrupted him again, ``We won't stop you from seeing her sometimes. When she can run around, which is going to be soon, you can meet her properly for the first time. As she gets older, you can meet her more frequently. But it will be on our terms. Do you understand?"

Jacob made no answer.

Bella added, ``You know what I think about this imprinting business. My advice for you is to approach this, well, naturally. That's the only way you can possibly build a normal relationship with her."

Jacob took a deep breath and then replied with a barely sustained calm, ``You are still contradicting yourself. How is the pack supposed to learn more about her, when you won't let me meet her?"

``Well, it doesn't have to be you who meets her," rebuffed him Bella, as if it was obvious.

``What?"

``A wolf and somebody else can come to visit her. Jarred and Kim for example - for a second opinion. Or Sam and Emily. Or all four of them for that matter, we still need to finalize our plans after all."

``Or Leah and Teddy," offered Edward.

``I don't think she would come," remarked Jacob. ``Maybe later."

``Well, relay our invitation to Jarred and Sam, in that case. At lest you will be able to see the meeting from their memory later."

Jacob wasn't happy when he walked away but he tried to see it from Bella's and Edward's perspective. At least he knew that Elizabeth was well protected. He phased and ran at full speed to burn off his frustration.

The visit occurred a week later. It was only Jarred, Sam and Emily. Kim was left behind. Originally, Sam had qualms about taking Emily as well but she insisted on coming. It helped when Charlie promised that he was going to be there as well.

The trio entered the Cullen house. Despite the previous extensive cooperation and despite the fact that it wasn't their first visit (at least in the case of Sam and Jarred) to the Cullens house, they felt a certain degree of out-of-body experience. It wasn't just some polite alliance meeting, it was an in-law meeting (or as close as they could possibly ever get to an in-law relation with vampires). And, of course, Elizabeth was a cherry on top of that entire cake.

``Welcome!" greeted them Esme as soon as she opened the door.

Sam groaned internally. Jarred was partially amused by the situation. Emily was curious and not one bit afraid. They entered. Esme disappeared deeper into the interior of the house. Sam and Jarred looked around and saw Carlisle, Alice, Emmett, and Edward.

``Well, well, well," hollered Bella, entering the room. ``If it isn't our old group. How charming."

``What?" asked Jarred.

``The anthill group. Or the ``troopers", as Jacob would call us."

``Jacob isn't here," remarked Sam. As an alpha, he had to advise Jacob to stop phasing when others (with the exception of Sam himself and other hard-boiled wolves) were phased. His frustration was infecting the others.

``Well, he wasn't with us in the anthill," snapped Bella. ``Never mind, come along. You want to see our little freak, don't you?"

Bella purposefully spoke about her own daughter in a derogatory manner to gauge their reactions. They didn't give her any, with a slight exception of Emily.

Elizabeth was sitting at the dining table on a high stool. Her little hands rested on the table, she was looking in the direction the guests were coming from. There was an empty steel cup in front of her.

``Hello," she said in a high, clear voice and waved at them.

``Hello. Nice to see you here," greeted them Charlie who was nearby, heating milk in the microwave. The trio watched him as he took a little ceramic can from the microwave and carried it to the table. He poured the warm milk in Elizabeth's cup.

``Now comes the creepy part," he warned them.

Esme arrived with a Thermos flask and added deer blood in the cup.

``My daughter's taste buds aren't quite ready for this," explained Bella. ``She can digest it but she won't like it any more than you liked broccoli when you were little. But, her stomach is getting stronger gradually. Who knows, she may be able to digest solid food once she reaches full maturity."

Charlie excused himself afterwards and left. Not only he wished to give the other visitors more space but he also knew that they were going to discuss things which were better off left unrevealed to those of them who couldn't protect their minds.

Emily tried to have a little conversation with Elizabeth. She made sure to talk slowly and simply.

``I can understand you quite well, thank you very much," told her Elizabeth.

Emily was disconcerted a little. Jarred made a glib remark.

``Her intelligence develops even faster than her body," explained Bella.

``Well, remarkable," commented Sam.

Jasper approached him and asked him to follow. Sam was a little reluctant to leave Emily behind but Jarred was with her at least. Jasper led Sam to a darkened room upstairs where a projector was set up. It showed the area of the ambush.

``Since we didn't finish our council the other day, we took liberty of preparing a proposal of a plan," said Jasper. ``I would like you to watch this animation and relay it to the others. Discuss it among yourself and then we can finalize our plan when the time comes."

Sam nodded and Jasper started the animation. Sam watched the moving dots and animated arrows.

When it ended, Jasper added, ``You also need to decide among yourselves who is going to come and who shall stay behind."

Sam nodded and asked, ``Are you still against bringing Smith into this?"

``We won't contact him yet. Maybe later. Decrease the risk of a leak and all."

Sam contemplated for a while and then concluded, ``Very well. I'll brief the others and get back to you. There's one last thing however."

``Jacob," predicted Jasper (and accurately so).

``Indeed. His mood is bad for morale. He needs to see the girl right before the operation."

``She isn't even a girl yet," remarked Jasper.

``Isn't she? It didn't look like that to me."

``Intellect and emotional maturity aren't the same things. I would know."

``Well, it's all the same. Make it clear to those two." (He meant Edward and Bella.)

The three visitors left shortly afterwards.

* * *

Their decision not to contact John Smith went out of window next week. It happened when Bella came to visit Charlie for the first time since her transformation.

Bella's new family agreed that her self-control was holding. She had not been exactly confined to the house before but she had been playing it safe. Finally, she scheduled a visit at Charlie's. She even drove there alone, without Edward.

When she arrived to her old home and walked to the front door, she had barely enough time to notice that the truck was nowhere around and realize that Charlie had returned it to Jacob when her vampire ears caught sounds of Charlie's television. It was time for evening news.

As Bella started to make out the words, she froze and listened. Then she lurched forwards and raced to the living room, sending a signal to Edward at the same time.

``Bella?" addressed her Charlie, who was confused by her behaviour.

Bella shushed him and focussed on the news. A nuclear submarine was missing. In Atlantic. Edward sent her a signal that the family was convening around a TV.

``Was this in news before?" asked Bella.

``Well, there have been whispers for past two days," told her Charlie. ``The navy didn't make an official statement till now though."

Bella made no answer and watched intently.

``It's pretty serious stuff," continued Charlie. ``There are conspiracy theories already. Some people say that it was done by Russians, others say that it was China."

``When did it happen?"

``Well, that's not exactly sure. They don't make contact every day."

``Could it be around the same time I was transforming?"

``Well, yes."

Bella rushed out without another word.

``Thank you for stopping by," sneered Charlie sarcastically. ``It was nice having you here for so long."

Bella sped back to the Cullen mansion and barged into the dining room, where everybody was already convened.

``How is it possible that we've missed this?" she asked Jasper.

``Because I've been watching the East Coast till now," he retorted. ``Moreover, we aren't connected to military channels. In case you have forgotten, we aren't talking to Smith at the moment."

``Wait a minute," spoke Emmett. ``Are you actually serious about this? That's a long-shot!"

``There's only one way to confirm it," said Carlisle.

``We need to talk to Smith," complemented Edward.

Bella looked around and replied, ``We can do that only if everybody involved agrees. Also, he needs to understand that it has to be under the radar."

Carlisle went to call Billy.

``I can't believe this," complained Bella. ``We would never learn about this if it wasn't for pure luck."

``Now that's not true. We would hear about this, eventually," argued Jasper. ``Even if you didn't notice it yourself, we would certainly discuss it."

Everybody, including Andromeda, convened later that day.

``See? It wasn't on the East coast, just like I've said," reminded Jared everybody.

``Don't be ridiculous. What has a submarine got to do with anything?" opposed Leah.

``Nuclear submarines don't just disappear," stated Bella.

``They do sometimes. Accidents happen."

``Alas, the probability of that happening on a modern vessel like USS Ohio without the crew even calling for help is rather small," argued Edward. ``That is, unless something killed them all."

They discussed the matter for a long time. In the end, they agreed to meet Smith ahead of the schedule.

When the meeting concluded and people started to leave, Jacob lingered. Sam hesitated by the door, looked back and gave Edward a meaningful look. He didn't need to think anything at him.

Jacob remained standing in the hall in the company of Edward and Bella. The others cleared the field with the exception of Rosalie who folded her arms and watched the scene with stern expression on her face.

Edward and Bella looked at each other and communicated with their eyes for a moment. Edward glanced at Rosalie briefly and gave her a subtle signal to stay out of it.

``Very well, cousin," said Bella finally, intoning the last word. ``Your friends are sick and tired of your moping around so we'll let you to see your niece. After all, we are a family and all."

She was laying it heavy, trying to make Jacob to see things her way. The boy in question just pursed a corner of his mouth uncomfortably.

``Well, she's upstairs," concluded Edward.

He did not need to tell him that. After all, Elizabeth's heartbeat was the only one in the whole house (besides Jacob's own). He tracked that heartbeat into Carlisle's study where she was sitting in an armchair. Her posture and the oversized old seat were in stark contrast with her size. Edward and Bella stayed outside.

``So, you are the one who convinced the pack that I'm no threat?" opened Elizabeth.

``Well, you could say that," answered Jacob, not really knowing how to play it.

``Imprinting, you call it."

``That's correct."

Elizabeth joined her hands, interlocking her fingers.

``If that's all that's to it, then why did mother talked about us having children?" she asked.

``What?!" exclaimed Jacob, stumped by the question.

``Just because I'm small it doesn't mean that I'm also deaf and stupid. I know what I've heard. And for your information, I do know how little children..."

She never finished the sentence because her parents entered the room. Fawkes was sitting on the roof, eavesdropping through an open window. Anybody who would see him there would agree that no chicken ever looked so conspiratorially.

* * *

Rufus Feller (an American financial magnate) was going through latest data with his assistants. Recent development made no sense to him because it defied all mathematical models. Almost as if there was some hidden undercurrent, some secret force which affected American and British economies. Objectively speaking, the influence was stabilizing but it messed up his machinations. He was loosing money. Big way. If it was going to hold up, he would have to ask the government for aid. Too big to fail, thousands of people loosing their jobs, etc.

The magnate bitterly remembered stories told to him by his grandfather. How he had made a fortune on selling oil first to Hitler and then to Allies. It was a bold move which had turned a rich family into a true dynasty of magnates and a prominent member of ``Committee of 300". Next generation had not fared much worse. The magnate's father and a few of his friends were behind establishment of the Federal Reserve. The magnate himself (just like his brother) had seemed to be living up to their family name at first. Until the problems started.

That night, when he was lying in bed, he suddenly sensed that he wasn't alone in the room. He switched a bed lamp on quickly. There was a strange man sitting at the foot of his bed. He was creepy and alluring at the same time. His skin looked as if it was made of chalk.

The man bowed a little and started to introduce himself but the magnate didn't listen and pressed an alarm button. Nothing happened. Somebody disconnected it. He went for a gun in his night table instead.

``Oh, please, carry on," said the man and moved so fast that the magnate was nauseated. ``But please, use this. You don't wish to alarm the entire household for no reason."

There was a silencer attached to the gun. On one hand, the magnate was convinced that he was dreaming. On the other hand, he was no fool and he saw perfectly well that somebody capable of such a speed wouldn't leave him the weapon if it was any good.

``Who are you? What do you want?" he asked.

``As I was saying, my name is Stefan and I am no foe of yours. I'm here because you have questions. Or meta-questions, to be precise, because you don't even know enough to ask the actual questions. Never mind, I have both the questions and the answers. However, we don't discuss these things with those who aren't with us and even then I would be able to give you only the former since my master wishes to discuss the latter with you personally."


	3. Ambush

Ambush

John Smith met with Carlisle, Jasper, and Bella. Bella's transformation surprised him. Her newborn status made him wary.

They quickly recounted what Bella had detected during her transformation and their theory about USS Ohio.

"What?" exclaimed Smith. "Why haven't you told me this before?"

"We didn't know about this before," answered Carlisle. "And I did contact you about the Volturi, I just didn't explain why."

"Speaking of which, are you sure that Aro, Caius, and Marcus have never left Volterra?" asked Bella.

"Quite."

"What's the deal with the ship?" asked Jasper.

Smith looked from one to another and explained, "Ohio carried ballistic missiles with thermonuclear warheads. Some people think that it was a technical failure. After all, the vessel was supposed to be retired or refitted in two years. However, many people believe that wizards are involved and that the warheads have been stolen."

"That's another reason why we have to find the submarine," stated Bella.

"The navy is already searching for it," informed them Smith. "However, it's going to take some time."

"Obviously," answered Bella. "We have a plan for speeding the process up. However, that would require us to handle it personally and we can't spare anybody at the moment."

"I presume you are going to make your move against the Volturi soon?" asked Smith.

"That's correct," answered Jasper. "Some of them are coming here. None of the brothers, just guards. You need to keep this a secret. We really don't want them to get suspicious and escape."

Smith wondered why his people didn't know about that. However, he didn't say anything out loud because he had no trouble believing that a group of Volturi guards would be able to arrive to the country undetected.

"However, there's something you can do," proposed Carlisle. "Do you remember how I've told you about certain vegetarian friends of mine?"

"Yes. Those Volturi guards are after them, am I right?"

"Indeed. I believe it would be prudent to approach them right afterwards."

Smith nodded and replied, "Very well. I'll be prepared."

"And if you do find Ohio in timely fashion, let us know," added Bella.

They discussed a few minor details and parted afterwards.

Back home, Carlisle summarised the meeting. Emmett spun ten different conspiracy theories in his head about the submarine before Carlisle even finished.

"Shouldn't we give that submarine a higher priority?" asked Rosalie. "What if it's relevant for our move on the Volturi?"

"Well, Smith is sure that they have nothing to do with it," replied Carlisle.

"That's not what I mean."

"I hope you aren't referring to the fact that there might be a common enemy out there," insisted Bella. "That's a slippery pole and it's exactly what Aro wants you think."

"Look, the only way how to find the submarine faster is to utilize Alice's ability," concluded Jasper. "And we can't spare her or anybody else at the moment. Especially with Elizabeth in our care."

They discussed the matter until Carlisle told them that it was a waste of time since they had no solid data to build upon. The family dispersed. Edward went after his daughter who was raiding Carlisle's library again at the moment and was very close to finding a Sade's book. Jasper stayed behind, leaning on a kitchen counter, arms folded.

"What?" asked Bella.

"You are different. Your whole emotional aura. From what you were before the destruction of Hogwarts. Besides being a vampire, I mean."

"Well, I am a mother now," retorted Bella. "I didn't think that it would change my life so much, but..." Bella trailed off.

Esme returned at that point and asked, "But what?"

Bella rolled her eyes and finished, "Everything I do now, I think about my daughter and her future. It isn't enough to help wizards and muggles to build a better future for this region. I also have to consider whether that future society is going to accept her."

"Well, just like you've said before, even if all fails, she'll always have home in La Push," reminded her Esme.

"That would be great," responded Bella sarcastically. "Only if the entry fee wasn't her womb."

"Oh come on!" protested Esme. "How can you look at it like that?!"

At the same time, Edward sent his wife a signal to keep her voice down.

"You have to admit, Jacob is such a golden hearted boy," continued Esme. "He would never press her into anything she wouldn't like."

"Oh, she will like. If she's anything like me, her maternal instincts will kick in when she grows up. Which is going to be in several years by my estimate."

Edward groaned internally. Bella wasn't shielding the conversation from him so he followed every word.

Jasper cleared his throat and drawled, "I don't want to get mushy here but I have to agree with Esme. Jacob is a pure soul. A total opposite of Sam in this regard, if you ask me. The next shift of wolves is going to be lucky to have him as an alpha."

"Yeah, he's basically a carbon copy of Seth Clearwater. Just older."

"Not just older," opposed Esme. "Also more mature, responsible, and disciplined. If it wasn't for his recent emotional crisis, he would be impenetrable for Edward."

"I bet he's got that from my side of his heritage," snipped Bella.

"Don't be ridiculous," admonished her Jasper. "How much of your DNA does he share? Huh?"

Bella made no answer and made a move with her eyes which wasn't an eye roll but was as close as it could possibly be.

"You know, it would be simple for me to compute it," continued Jasper. "The problem is, you refuse to provide us with accurate data. How many generations were there on each side exactly?"

Bella made no answer. Jasper continued, "Is Jacob your cousin, your nephew, or your uncle? You've told Elizabeth that he is her uncle but only because he's older than her."

"There was a lot of inbreeding on each side," reminded him Bella.

"Regardless, your grand-grand-grand-uncle married a woman who was unrelated to him and their children married people unrelated to them," argued Jasper. "And you've married a guy who is most definitely unrelated to you."

Bella looked down, then she raised her eyes again and retorted, "Well, both Edward and his mother had green eyes, right?"

"So what?" asked Esme.

"Well, Harry and his mother had green eyes as well!" answered Bella.

That stumped Jasper and Esme for a moment.

"And?" asked Esme.

"The Potters were related to Blacks!" exclaimed Bella.

"Since Harry inherited his green eyes from his mother, how does that have anything to do with you and Edward?" asked Esme incredulously.

Bella raised her hands and retorted, "OK, it doesn't. But isn't it scary how everybody is related to everybody?"

Jasper shook his head and responded, "There's no proof that Harry's mother was related to Edward's mother. And even if there was, what would it say about you and Edward? Nothing!"

Bella gesticulated with her hands and replied, "Well, that's true. I'm just trying to tell you how creepy is all of that for me."

Alas, Esme wasn't going to be be deterred so easily. Next day, when Jacob came to visit, Esme was waiting for him. Jacob arrived in "Bella's" truck, not wanting to enter the house in worn shorts. His new car (the Rabbit) wasn't quite finished yet since he was in no mood for tinkering with it. As he approached the driveway, he noticed Esme leaning by a tree. He stopped the car and got out.

"Hello, Jacob," said the vampire matriarch.

"Hello," replied Jacob. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all," assured him Esme. "I just wanted to tell you that most of us understand your position. However, try to see it from Edward's and Bella's perspective. Neither of them ever expected to become a parent so you can imagine how dear Elizabeth is to them."

"Do you doubt my dedication to her?"

"No, of course not. But they simply wish to keep her for themselves for next several years. They've accepted already that she grows quickly. Accepting you is too much for them at the moment. And, of course, there is one obvious problem about the whole thing."

"And that is what?" asked Jacob, not being aware of anything.

"Don't you think that all of this might be a problem later? For you and Elizabeth, I mean."

"Bella and Edward have talked about it with me already," snapped Jacob.

"Indeed. But perhaps you need to hear it in different words. Generally, settings like these usually cause problems in relationships later. Moreover, Elizabeth is fully aware of everything and remembers everything. If you build an adult-child kind of a relationship with her now, it will be difficult to build another kind later on. Maybe you should approach this differently than the other wolves do."

"So, what am I supposed to do?" asked Jacob. A year earlier, he would not have believed that he would ever ask a vampire such a question.

"Wait till she's old enough to form a friendship with her on equal terms. Given how quickly she advances, that moment should come sooner rather than later."

Finally, they agreed that Jacob should make one last visit that day and to start keeping his distance afterwards. At least for a while.

"And remember," said Esme in the end. "Don't let her see that you are frustrated or sad."

When Jacob met Elizabeth shortly afterwards, he told her how privileged he was for getting to know her. He asked her to visit La Push when she would be older and to stop by his house. It was clear to Elizabeth that more was going on than was being said and she could theorize what exactly it was but she said nothing.

When was Jacob about to leave, he asked one last question, "Oh, I've almost forgot. Do you know that you've got a cousin in La Push?"

"Yes, Teddy," answered Elizabeth. She wasn't capable of sarcasm yet so she made no comment about the whole pack being related to her mother.

"Well, his grandma and your mother don't like each other very much but I wonder if you would like to meet him. After all, you should have some kids your age around yourself."

Elizabeth thought about it for a split of a second and nodded.

"Great. Not that he will be much fun, he can't even read yet."

"Of course he can't read," snapped Elizabeth. "He isn't even a year old!"

"Obviously, how silly of me. Well, I hope we meet again, Elizabeth."

Jacob turned around and left.

It took some convincing both from Jacob and from Carlisle and Esme but in the end, Andromeda decided to visit Elizabeth and bring Teddy along. Leah accompanied them, of course.

Bella and her daughter met the "delegation" in the dining room. They exchanged greetings and introductions. Andromeda wasn't letting Elizabeth to touch Teddy, let alone to play with him. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"So, no signs of lycanthropy yet?" asked Elizabeth after a while.

Andromeda put her cup of tea down and retorted, "I believe you would have heard about it if something like that happened."

The little hybrid tilted her head and replied, "I don't know. You've been rather out of touch lately."

"Not just lately," commented Bella silently.

"No, he isn't exhibiting any werewolf traits at the moment," said Leah resolutely to cut the uncomfortable discussion off right at the beginning.

"That's good to hear," answered Elizabeth politely. "I was thinking, maybe it's due to genetic interference from her metamorph mother."

"And maybe he's just still too little," responded Andromeda shortly.

"But his metamorphing abilities have manifested already," stated Elizabeth, revealing where she had been going for the entire time.

Andromeda folded her hands, leaned forward, and sternly proclaimed, "No, you may not tickle him so you could watch his hair change colour."

Elizabeth smiled, not deterred by her semi-hostile tone, and assured her, "I was thinking about something else. Have you tried this?"

There was stereo nearby and it finally become obvious why it was there. Elizabeth ran to it and and hit the play button.

Andromeda was rather surprised by the notion for a moment so her only response was, "I don't think..."

"Don't worry, I've selected something light for starters," interrupted her Elizabeth before her grandaunt could protest any further.

Tones of "The Moldau" filled the room afterwards. Andromeda rolled her eyes and asked Elizabeth to turn it off.

"Oh come on," pleaded the little girl. "Scientists say that classical music makes babies smarter. We'll try Mozart later."

"Guys? Look," called Leah.

Teddy's hair turned to light shades of blue and green.

"Well, at least he's got musical ear," uttered Bella.

In the end, the visit wasn't a disaster and Bella and her aunt even managed to discuss a certain project of theirs - a spray which would dilute the pungent scent of the wolves. Such a thing would surely be useful to any wolves who wished to keep a low profile.

It wasn't the only visit from La Push that Elizabeth received. Kim wanted to see the little wonder girl with her own eyes so she stopped by with Jared next day. He recounted the adventure with the giant ants for both girls.

Preparations for the upcoming confrontation with the Volturi continued.

There was a great discussion about Elizabeth's safety during the operation. Jacob offered for her to stay in La Push. Bella disagreed. After all, there was enough vampires to form two groups. One to stay at home and guard Elizabeth and the general area, another to do the cowardly deed of stabbing Aro in his back.

So the only choice left was where to place Alice. The pre-agreed four were going to meet the guard, that was clear. However, was it better for Alice to stay in Edward's range to adapt to any sudden changes of the situation or was it better for her to stay at home, just in case? After all, if Smith had managed to track them down, maybe somebody else had done so as well. In the end, it was decided that there was really no need for a psychic with two mind readers on board. Alice was staying at home.

The pack was facing a similar dilemma - who should come and who should stay? Clearly, Sam needed to come, because a precise operation like that needed an experienced leader. Alas, it was ill advised for Jared, who was as experienced as Sam (if not more) to come as well. Not only because an experienced wolf (and soldier) was needed at home but also because his "retirement" was close and younger people needed the experience. The same applied for Paul, even more so (because of his unsuitability for the operation).

Jacob was requested to come as well, to gain experience. He protested at first, wanting to stay near Elizabeth, in case something happened. Alas, it wasn't a good idea for somebody who was supposed to replace Sam to sit the operation out. Jared promised him that he would lend a hand in Elizabeth's protection if it was needed. He made it clear though that it would be ill advised for any wolves to sniff around the area since it would disrupt Alice's vision. Finally, Andromeda told Jacob that she would personally bring Elizabeth to La Push if she needed an evacuation.

Laeh and all the wolves who changed after her were staying at home. In the end, only Quill and Embry were to accompany Sam and Jacob. That brought on a discussion. Was it really wise for Sam to face the Volturi with only three green wolves by his side (metaphorically speaking, they were going to stand quite far away from each other)? However, the only other option was to bring Jared as well and Sam needed him to stay behind and protect their homes in their absence.

Andromeda increased the flexibility of the whole arrangement by creating two Portkeys and a homing beacon. One Portkey was given to Jacob. It would take him somewhere between La Push and the Cullen house. The other Portkey was given to Paul and the beacon was given to Sam. The Portkey was linked with the beacon and would take Paul straight to Sam should the operation go sideways in which case Paul's temper wouldn't matter much.

Soon enough, all the preparations (including field drills) were finished. It was time to go to Alaska.

All eight people travelled there on foot (in two separate groups). The Cullens arrived to a cabin prepared exactly to their specifications. Edward unpacked cups and a Thermos with blood while Carlisle and Esme prepared a table. There were no chairs. Bella set up an array of electricity jamming stones given to them by Andromeda. They were inactive at the moment and their purpose was to become apparent later. The wolves did not even come near the area to avoid any chance of their scent lingering there. Also, Alice was able to monitor everything from home thanks to that.

The guard was going to arrive next day. The quartet discussed where should they spend the night. There were three options: to wait in the cabin, to wait outside in the expected path of the guard or to split up. In the end, they decided to stay together in the cabin for the night and to set out to take position early in the morning.

Carlisle pulled out a book and tried not to think about what were they about to do. Not that he had any doubts - with Elizabeth in the picture, there was really no other way. And yet, he was rather disgusted with himself. He was the only one. Edward, worried about Carlisle's performance, proposed to rehearse the entire charade one more time.

Alice called later and informed them that the plane carrying Demetri's group was going to be slightly delayed. Jasper could have told them that himself because he was monitoring the flight on the Internet.

Before dawn came, Carlisle and his companions moved to an intercept position in woods. Bella was last to leave and activated the stones before she left. Edward pulled out a radio and let Sam know when they arrived. An affirmative growl was the only response he received (the wolves were out of Edward's mind reading range). The wolves moved slightly closer about an hour later. Alice saw that the wind was unlikely to change but they applied the spray anyway.

"They are coming," announced Edward hours later.

"Exactly as Alice predicted," commented Bella.

Without any more words, Bella and Edward faced each other, took each other's hands, and looked into each other's eyes. Upon establishing a full link, Edward led Bella to the minds of the incoming guards. They were done in several seconds and Bella said, "Very well. It doesn't seem that there will be any surprises nor are they followed. We can proceed as planned but let's not take any chances."

They took the agreed positions: Carlisle in the front, his seemingly timid wife on his flank, Bella next to them, Edward on her flank. However, while Esme's stance was humble, Edward was displaying readiness to defend Bella. They also made sure to keep Bella slightly behind Carlisle's position (from the viewpoint of the incoming guard). Edward checked his revolver loaded with incendiary bullets and sent Sam one last message. When there was no response (other than a growl), Edward muted the speaker and hid the radio.

Five running figures appeared, weaving between trees. They knew about the Cullens but they made no course change. Demetri knew that Carlisle was there. Edward carefully monitored their thoughts and relayed everything to Bella. The guards approached the Cullens and slowed down. Demetri was in front, Jane was keeping to the background, as usual.

"Demetri, Jane, Felix," greeted them Carlisle politely. "I'm afraid I did not have the pleasure of meeting your companions yet." He was speaking Italian, of course.

"Carlisle," responded Demetri, his eyes flicking to Bella. Her vampire status surprised him but he wasn't about to let his guard down. Jane snarled when she realized that a daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange, murderer of her brother Alec, was before her.

Carlisle played his part perfectly. "I can see from your reaction that you have recognized Bellatrix here," he said. "And we can theorize why you might think..."

Jane was about to use her gift. Edward warned Bella who stepped forward and exclaimed, "There's no time for this! Previous July, two Aurors attempted to arrest me. I managed not to kill one of them right away. Before he did die, he mentioned that the excuse for my arrest was suspicion of conspiring with vampires." She was speaking at full vampire speed.

"Bella," said Carlisle sternly but not sharply. He turned to Demetri and continued (at the same speed as Bella), "I'm afraid she's right, time is of the essence here, so I'll be brief. Shortly after the destruction of Hogwarts, we have captured a ministry employee. Bellatrix and her mate interrogated him and learned that a vampire had approached the Ministry previous July and had asked about her. The vampire had been destroyed. Also, they had suspected that the vampire had been sent by you. Now I assume that he was truly one of you."

"Mate?" asked Felix.

"If you can call them such," confirmed Carlisle. "Allow me to introduce my remaining companions. This is my wife Esme, this is Edward. I have changed both of them."

At that moment, Jacob entered Edward's range. The other wolves were beyond it and moving into their positions. Jacob knew the exact moment when he entered it because he was able to feel the probe against his occlumency shields, as unstable as they were at the moment.

Felix wanted to inquire deeper but Demetri was faster and asked, "Do you expect us to believe that this girl had nothing to do with Afton's death?"

"Afton?" asked Carlisle in a shock. "I'm sorry to hear that. Though I must say that it was careless from Aro to send him into the hands of the ministry."

"We are wasting time!" reiterated Bella. "We need to move!"

Carlisle nodded and confirmed, "I'm afraid Bella is right. We need to hurry."

"What are you talking about?!" snarled Demetri.

"They are two steps ahead of you!" emphasized Carlisle. "They have discovered Eleazar and his coven and captured them all. There was nothing I could have done. And now, they are waiting for you. They want you alive. I hope I don't have to tell you how much risk the four of us are taking just by being here."

There was no need for Demetri to ask who "they" were.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there was a tracking charm on you already," continued Carlisle. "Fortunately, we have prepared a warded cottage nearby. It should buy us some time. We can discuss our next move there. Also, there's refreshment prepared."

Demetri raised an eyebrow, noting that Carlisle's eyes were as yellow as three centuries before. He did not inquire though. He looked at his companions, then he turned his head back to Carlisle and nodded. Edward couldn't believe that they were truly so lucky - there had been no leak regarding their family.

The vampires ran to the cottage and the wolves repositioned as well. Quill and Embry moved downwind from the cottage while Sam and Jacob checked whether there wasn't some backup following the five guards. So far it was a text-book example of a perfectly coordinated joint operation.

The vampires entered the cabin and Bella shut the door. The guards noted the goblets on the table.

"That should buy us some time," she said. "Of course, if they were tracking you, it won't be long before they investigate the place where your signal disappeared. Hopefully, they won't think that we would actually be here."

Demetri turned to Carlisle and asked him, "So you know about the existence of wizards. How did you get to this? What's your position in this?"

Carlisle answered in order, "Obviously. And so did you, when I visited Volterra. As you can guess, we've learned about all of this from our newest addition. It's a rather long story, I'll give you its highlights over the meal. As for my position, it is, and always have been, same as Aro's."

Demetri wanted to ask about the "meal" but the last sentence caught his attention. "And what do you think is his position?" he asked.

"Preservation of human civilization. He wants it, I want it. Of course, our methods differ grossly. There are things which I simply refuse to do and I have no doubt that Aro would normally consider this a weakness. However, I've heard that time wasn't kind to your coven and I'm sure Aro will be grateful for every friend."

Jane seethed at Carlisle's attitude but she controlled herself. After all, she was the most ancient vampire of them all. However, Demetri just nodded and said that he needed to give Aro a situation report. Carlisle raised his hand and opened his mouth to speak but Demetri noticed already that his cellphone was malfunctioning.

"I've told you that this cabin is warded," exclaimed Carlisle. "You should have turned those off."

The fact was, all the Cullens were running in front of the guards for the whole time. It was believable for them to assume that Demetri would remember it himself. Despite that, Jane got suspicious. Edward briefly regretted that Jasper wasn't with them but it was also true that his presence would generate more suspicion then he would be able to alleviate.

"Don't fret," told Carlisle to Demetri. "We've got a private jet prepared. It's going to land in Fairbanks in about two hours. We can all contact Aro from there. I would like to speak with him myself and ask for help for Eleazar."

Demetri narrowed his eyes, then came to a conclusion that all of it made sense. He still didn't like the situation.

While Carlisle and Demetri talked, Esme prepared the exact number of cups and put any extra away. However, she left the Thermos unopened.

"Well, let's have a drink," proposed Carlisle. "Obviously, it's not human blood, it's something better. Chances are that our enemies might catch up with us today in which case we'll need every ounce of strength we can get."

"And ability to regenerate quickly," added Bella. "Which is going to be boosted by this delicacy by ten to twenty percent."

Carlisle opened the Thermos and started to pour the red liquid. A truly appetizing scent filled the room.

"What is it?" asked Felix.

"Blood," answered Bella. "Don't worry, it's not from an unicorn. It's not from any intelligent life form either, Carlisle's insistence. It's actually mix of blood of two different creatures. One component gives it it's good taste and strength boost, the other improves our regeneration."

"What creatures?" inquired Demetri.

"I won't tell you at the moment," replied Bella with a smile. "I would like to see whether you can guess."

"After all," added Carlisle. "You've known about the magical world for the whole time. I'm sure my ignorance on the matter was rather amusing back then."

Carlisle gestured towards the cups and invited the guards to pick any of them. They did so, reluctantly, picking cups at random. The Cullens took the ones which remained. Out there, Jacob darted forward while the remaining wolves formed a triangle centred at the cabin.

Carlisle lifted his cup and toasted jovially, "To our new friends." Then he added in a more sombre tone, "And to old ones which can't be with us right now."

Esme and Edward emptied the cups in one gulp. Carlisle took a swig, then he downed the rest. All three of them played their part of thirsty vampires perfectly. Bella pretended to take a small sip. She looked at her companions, smirked condescendingly, and shook her head. She pretended to take another sip.

Felix and the two low ranking guards started to drink as well. Then Demetri joined them. Jane was most hesitant of them all. Too hesitant. Edward and Bella communicated silently, planning their course of action.

By the time Jane raised her cup to drink, the vampires who drank as first started to show symptoms. It began with cramps in their bellies, then they started to bleed from their noses, ears, and eyes.

"What's wrong?" shrieked Esme, because Carlisle was apparently done with the deception.

Bella sprung into action. She threw her drink in the face of a nearest enemy and then bound over the table at Jane. The little vampire saw her flying at her with arms outstretched and used her gift at her. There was no effect.

Edward drew his revolver and fired into Demetri's face twice. It was most important to destroy him. However, Felix was heaviest of them and the "poison" affected him the least. While he was shooting, Edward moved at this biggest enemy.

Bella crashed into Jane and they both tumbled to the floor. Jane struggled but her little body was no match for Bella's newborn strength. Bella gripped Jane's head and started crushing. Taking an advantage of the situation, she looked into her eyes.

Felix was partially blinded but he still detected an incoming attack. However, Edward easily evaded his counter-attack and moved to his flank. Using his superior speed, he grabbed Felix's arm, propped his leg against Felix as a leverage and ripped the arm off. Moreover, Felix, whose balance was upset by the poison, toppled and fell.

Carlisle and Esme were taking the two lower ranking guards apart at the moment. Demetri was going for the door, attempting to flee. Edward leapt after him, catching him around midriff. They crashed through the door and started to wrestle on the ground outside.

Only a bunch of shards remained of Jane's head. Bella seemed to be in contemplative mood which was rather strange given the circumstances. Carlisle and Esme were tackling Felix at the moment. Bella opted to help them rather than her husband. Before she reached the scuffle, Felix managed to kick Esme away. She hit a wall and almost broke through it. Bella crept up at Felix and ripped his other arm off.

Outside, Edward got upper hand. Demetri was far more experienced but he was handicapped and he had no idea that Edward was reading his mind. When Jacob arrived, Edward decapitated his opponent. The whole skirmish lasted only a few seconds.

 _"That's it?!"_ asked Jacob in his mind.

"Barely," snapped Edward. "We still have to search the area, check if they were alone."

 _"We have done that already."_

"A broader perimeter this time. I'm coming with you."

Bella walked out of the cabin. Edward tossed her Demetri's head and said, "Stay here, burn the bodies, and talk to Carlisle."

Bella did not need to ask why. Edward and Jacob turned around and ran away. Bella crushed the head she was holding and returned inside to collect supplies for making fire. Carlisle wasn't in a good mood.

"This is the lowliest thing I've ever done!" he ranted.

"There was no helping them," uttered Bella. "Destroying them was the most merciful thing we could have done for them."

"Excuse me?" asked Carlisle.

"Just before I've killed Jane, I took a peek in her mind. I didn't get much intelligence on Aro but I've seen the state her mind was in. True, she was one of the oldest members of the guard but the younger ones are still affected severely by Chelsea. All the permanent guard members are simply unable to have a life of their own. The Volturi goes, they go with them."

Carlisle made no answer.

"That doesn't mean I don't pity Jane," continued Bella, surprising Carlisle. "Both she and her brother were magical. Their mother was muggle-born, their father was a muggle who died of pneumonia while they were still little. Their mother had only a rudimentary knowledge of potions and never held a wand in her life. I'm theorizing now but I think that some wizard tipped Aro off. He them made the village leader to destroy the family. The mother was murdered and the twins were about to burn at a stake. That was when Aro arrived with cavalry. As you can imagine, Jane and Alec were quite grateful. Not only for saving their lives but also for giving them an opportunity to enact revenge. And after that, Chelsea bound them to Aro with her gift. I wonder in the light of this story, is Chelsea truly Aro's secret partner in crime or does he have some kind of secondary means of enslaving even her?"

True enough, the story had an effect both on Esme and Carlisle. However, Carlisle was also interested in Bella's perspective in the whole matter.

"Is it sympathy I hear in your voice?" he asked and picked a torso from the floor.

Bella took the supplies for making fire and two limbs and answered, "I wouldn't go that far. However, I can see myself in her place very easily. Let's say that my mother and Voldemort would have come to save me when I was little. And not just that, they would have also bound the entire family to kitchen chairs to handed me a kitchen knife. I have no doubt that I would have become unshakeably loyal to them, no need for Chelsea."

They dumped the body parts on Demetri's carcase and Bella started to make a fire.

"You know, something just occurred to me," said Carlisle, his mood steadily improving.

"Yes?" asked Bella.

"Despite all his mistakes, Dumbledore's decisions set you on the path which has led you here."

As the pile behind Bella lit up, she turned around and exclaimed, "You have to be kidding me."

"Aren't you happy now?"

"Of course I am! I'm happier than I have ever imagined I could possibly be!"

"And would you ever become the person capable of appreciating the life you have now otherwise? Becoming self-reliant. Mistrusting the dogmas of the magical world. Becoming friends with Harry and Hermione. Reconnecting with Sirius and learning about the Quileutes thanks to that. And finally, meeting Edward thanks to that."

Bella raised her right hand, the index finger erected, and retorted, "That's what I call a completely random sequence of events."

They added all the remaining body parts on the fire. Carlisle stared into the flames for a moment and then announced, "Regardless, this is the last time I've joined you in something like this. If something attacks my family I will defend it with my life but this kind of operations isn't for me."

"Well, we are done with this strategy anyway," conceded Bella. "We'll contact Smith and then we'll start working with humans. I guess a big scientific boom is starting out there right now."

"And I'll be a part of it," echoed Carlisle, nodding.

Edward returned shortly afterwards.

"We couldn't find any traces of any other vampires," he informed the others.

"Where is the pack?" asked Carlisle.

"They moved away from this area and used the Portkey."

"Just like that?" criticised Esme. "That's very unprofessional. What if there was more danger?"

"They said, quote, this was a waste of our time, unquote. Maybe they feel like they are needed more back home."

Bella added one last shard of Jane's brain on the fire and stated, "Well, the day's still young. Let's contact Smith."


	4. Sea Tomb

Sea Tomb

Tanya and her sisters were out of the house that morning. Eleazar and Carmen lounged at home, relaxing.

Suddenly, a phone rang. It was Carlisle. He asked to meet the whole family that afternoon. He sounded serious. It was strange. They had no contact with the Cullens ever since Edward had returned to Forks a year earlier. Eleazar wondered whether the reason for Carlisle's visit was connected.

All five of them congregated in a living room later that day and discussed what was the sudden visit all about. They didn't have to wonder for long. Carlisle arrived, accompanied by Bella. That was quite a surprise for the Denalis. What was even more stumping was Carlisle's eye colour.

"Hello, good to see you all again," greeted them Carlisle. "Allow me to introduce to you the newest addition to our family. This is Bella, Edward's wife."

Bella bowed her head a little and said hello. There was a round of greetings, congratulations, well wishes, expressions of surprise, and questions.

"Our family have been rather out of touch for this past year and I'm sorry for that," apologized Carlisle. "That wouldn't be so strange normally but considering the situation, we should have called at least. Alas, circumstances which we are going to explain soon required us to lay low. To go dark, as they say."

"Carlisle," spoke Bella. "I believe ours hosts are rather interested in the change of your eye colour."

Carlisle narrowed his eyebrows. He looked in a mirror in the antechamber and observed, "The hue have deepened since this morning."

"Quite. It should go away soon enough."

Carlisle faced the Denali clan and explained, "Don't worry, I haven't drank human blood. As you can see, the colour isn't actually red to begin with. As for Bella, she's a vegetarian like we are but she was changed recently so her eyes are still quite red. As you can guess, she's the girl who chased Edward out of Forks a year ago. However, that's a longer story so let's go about this in order."

They sat on sofas and armchairs around a conference table and the meeting began.

"Eleazar," opened Carlisle. "Do you know about existence of the magical world and origin of our kind?"

"I beg your pardon?" replied Eleazar.

"Let me ask you something else," tried Bella another approach. "Have you ever noticed Aro accepting human visitors who seemed rather strange to you? Your gift wouldn't tell you anything about them however. Speaking of which, how do I seem to you in that regard?"

"I'm not sure what are you talking about. I see nothing about you."

"Curious. I would think that I would at least appear dark to you, like when I become silent to Edward. You see me as completely mundane and yet, there's nothing mundane about me."

Ignoring the raised eyebrows about being able to deflect Edward's gift, she took a coin from her pocket and held it in her palm for a moment. She levitated it into the air. It hung there for another moment before accelerating. Carlisle caught it and admonished his companion, "Bella, it seemed to me that you intended to let it lodge itself in the door frame."

"I've thought that it would be impressive," drawled Bella.

"No, it would be annoying. You don't walk into other's people homes and make coins lodge themselves into walls."

Eleazar finally spoke, "Excuse me but that is some impressive gift you posses."

Bella turned to the former guard and responded, "It's not impressive, it's useless. At least to a vampire. And it's not a gift either, merely a manifestation of something far more general and common. As a matter of fact, the same could be stated about any of these vampiric "gifts"."

Carlisle decided to cut to the chase. "To make it short, Bella's a witch," he said.

"Was. When I was still a human," she corrected him. "I guess that would make a wampire now?"

"Back to the original question, Eleazar," interrupted Carlisle again. "Have you noticed Aro consorting with strange humans?"

Eleazar hesitated for a split of a second and answered, "Yes, indeed. They seemed aware of what we were but strangely unconcerned for their safety. I thought that I was imagining things."

"Vampires don't imagine things," remarked Bella. "Or it would be very difficult at least. After all, most of the parts of our minds which used to be subconscious before have been usurped by our conscious minds upon the transformation."

"Bella? Could we please stick to the business?" suggested Carlisle again. "I could do the explaining part if don't feel like it."

"No, that's OK. Forgive me."

They gave the stunned Denali clan a brief picture of how the world really looked like. They stuck to general information about how the magical world had been structured before the Voldemort crisis, merely hinted that there had been turmoil and changes recently and hinted even less on Bella's role in all that.

An hour later, Carlisle admitted, "Yes, we were as overwhelmed as you are now when we learned of this all. Then again, we had seen some strange things before that so we knew that not everything in this world is as it seems. And of course, we've been living in that world ever since and seen many strange things which don't seem so strange in retrospective. Now, before we get to the actual reason why are we actually here, do you have any questions?"

As it turned out, everybody had a lots of questions. Carlisle and Bella spent another hour answering them. They deflected most of them, considering them not as important and better to be answered later at length. However, they let it escape that there might be an ancient vampire on loose. Carlisle then reiterated his proposal to leave the full story for later.

"Very well, I believe it's time to explain why are we here," opened Carlisle. "Something happened this morning which concerns you greatly."

"Shouldn't you have told us about that sooner?" asked Tanya.

"Well, we had to explain the greater context first and you had a lot of questions," retorted Bella.

"As we have told you, things are changing," continued Carlisle. "The Volturi aren't too happy about that. Recently, they have started pulling back all sorts of former guard members and other associates. Alice saw that they were going to come for you as well and request all of you to bolster their ranks. As you can imagine, that would lead to Aro discovering existence of Alice, Jasper, and Edward. In short, you would be in a rather difficult situation. Both from a perspective of safety of your own family and because of possibility of getting us in trouble as well. Well, we couldn't have possibly leave it like that."

The Denalis weren't making a sound. The graveness of Carlisle's news didn't fit with his matter-of-fact tone.

"I do realize that we should have come to you right away but due to other factors we needed to choose a more underhanded approach which would be most effective. Not to mention safest for everyone concerned."

This time it was Bella's turn to be impatient. "We've ambushed and killed them all this morning," she announced.

There were cries of shock and disbelief from Eleazar and the others.

"How is that even possible?" questioned Tanya. "Even with seven, I mean eight of you..."

"There were four of us," corrected Bella. "Carlisle, me, and our better halves. A whole family would make them wary. Not to mention that the others were needed to guard the home front."

Carlisle rolled his eyes (which was atypical for him) and commented, "It wasn't just the four of us. Four wolves were patrolling in the area."

"In case somebody escaped. Which didn't happen."

"Aro is going to seek revenge!" exclaimed Eleazar.

"With what guard?" countered Bella. "He sustained losses two years ago, he himself is injured, and the last key members of his guard have been destroyed this morning. The twins and Demetri are ashes and many other guards are gone as well. As we see it, Chelsea is the last powerful guard member he has - if you can consider her a guard member."

"What do you mean?" asked Eleazar. He knew that Chelsea wore a black robe of a coven leader but he simply considered her the first among guards.

"Well, Chelsea is a first generation wild vampire, changed by Aro himself. They we've been together in this almost from the very beginning. I'm guessing that she was another squib, living in the time when Aro made his deal with wizards."

"That's... highly unlikely," disagreed Eleazar tentatively. "I mean, that part about Chelsea and Aro being secret leaders of the Volturi. I believe Chelsea herself is under control of another vampire with a similar gift."

"Who?" wondered Carlisle.

"Corin. She can make people addicted to her presence."

"So the only true leader is Aro," concluded Bella. "Makes sense. He himself is immune to gifts of other vampires, he has his semi-ancient charm, and he is an ultimate mind reader. I guess my mother knew what she was doing when she disfigured his face."

"Your mother?!" exclaimed Eleazar.

"Another long story," deflected Bella. "She's dead by the way."

Something told the others that any condolences would be received negatively.

"Well, let's get back to the business, shall we?" proposed Carlisle again. "This noon, wizards tightened their grip around Volterra. The Italian wizards were rather uncooperative regarding this but I'm sure that by now, they have realized what a ticking bomb is right under their noses. There is no other choice but to take them out. But, that's Europe. Here in Northern America, we won't leave anything to chance. And that's the true reason why are we here."

"I'm not sure we understand," said Tanya.

"As you can guess, new power structures are emerging in the United States, possibly Canada as well in the future. Similar to the British model, but not quite. More loose and modular. Obviously, one of those modules needs to be some kind of a vampire government. They approached us shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts. We declined, of course. Not only because our family is too young but also because we are in rather unique circumstances which caused that we are no longer a part of just the vampire world but rather the broader magical one. The Quileutes are part of those circumstances but I can't tell you any more than that for safety reasons right now."

"Do you actually propose what I think you are proposing?" asked Eleazar.

Carlisle nodded and informed them, "There are people who would like to talk to you. Right now. They have an offer to make."

"Right now?" asked Carmen.

"Indeed. Can I call them?"

Their vampire cousins didn't seem to get it. Bella clarified, "They are waiting for that call. They will get here instantaneously." Teleportation was one of the things that she missed about being human.

Tanya looked at the others and nodded. Carlisle called John Smith. All the vampires were able to hear an answer, "We'll be there in a minute."

That proved literal in about a minute when a crack sounded outside. There were three sets of footsteps. Carlisle opened the door when Smith knocked on them. Carlisle and Bella already knew one of Smith's companions - it was that goblin who had met them when Bella had been still a human. The third visitor was a federal agent (the paper-pushing kind). He looked rather nauseated from the travel. They had never seen him before. It seemed that the structure of organisation was still in flux on the side of the government. Carlisle introduced the wizard and the goblin, Smith introduced their non-magical companion.

Carlisle realized that the Denalis were staring at the goblin. He hissed at them in sub-human volume: "Yes, he's a goblin. Don't stare, he's highly placed."

"I've heard that," snapped the goblin. It wasn't entirely true. He couldn't possibly make out the words but he did notice that Carlisle said something.

John Smith cleared his throat a proposed to start the meeting. Tanya asked the guests whether they wouldn't like some tea. The guests declined.

Smith started the discussion by openly declaring what they wanted Tanya's family to do: to form a ruling body for vampires and to prevent the vampire population in Northern America from destabilizing. The agent (slash bureaucrat) then went on to explaining the idea in finer detail. Tanya's family would act as political representatives of the vampire world. Together with the Cullens, they would form a secret communication channel between the government and the vampires.

The proposed ideas were rather fuzzy and Eleazar had a hard time imagining how it would all work. That was when Bella divulged a rather important detail, "Of course, it's assumed that you won't be able to do all of this on your own. At least not at the beginning. And that's why Jasper is willing to form a team which is going to support you. He's going to discuss that personally with you but right now, he and Alice are required elsewhere."

"A team?" asked Eleazar.

"That means our family. With the exception of Carlisle here and Esme. We suspect that a number of younger Quileutes will be willing to join in. At later times, you'll probably use your gift to find allies and become self-reliant in the terms of your own security. By that time, we shall be most probably a part of enforcement units of American magical world."

"In other words," commented Smith. "If you fail to keep your vampires behind a certain line, we'll be there to dispose of anyone who crosses it."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" asked Tanya. "The Volturi rule, or ruled, all the vampires around the world with fear. Even if we could achieve the same effect, we wouldn't want to do it. After all, we abstain from drinking human blood for a reason. Speaking of which, Carlisle, you and Bella have criticized Aro's dictatorship a short while ago. Now you want us to build something similar?"

Carlisle shook his head and answered, "Not at all. I was thinking that maybe you could profile yourself as diplomats. Most vampires here should welcome the news that instead of three bloodthirsty omnipotent brothers, there will be three peaceful sisters with no real power. Alas, I have no concrete proposal. You have to keep one thing in mind - this whole thing is still growing and evolving. We have no idea what it might become. It all depends on willingness of all sorts of different people and creatures to cooperate and build a better future."

Smith added, "Speaking of dictatorship, I don't think you believe that the vampire world is prepared for elections. Of course, any vampire who wishes to have a say in how things are supposed to be done should be free to apply for American citizenship in future and go to elections. If all goes well. Also, there will be a lot of unique jobs available for vampires though we are probably going to send most applicants to you."

They continued the discussion for about a half an hour. They reached the question of feeding. That was the moment when the government representative grew nervous.

"We have discussed this at length with my colleagues and superiors," he explained. "Now, it's obvious that should a vampire drain an eleven year old school-girl, he or she would be dealt with most expediently. The same goes for killing a father of a nice, middle-class family or an entrepreneur who provides jobs for fifty people. In other words, certain deaths destabilize the society. We can't have that. Now, imagine the opposite case. Let's say that a group of terrorist illegally enter our country with intention of detonating a nuclear bomb in a middle of a large city. A vampire comes across them, sucks them all dry, and notifies authorities to pick the nuke up. That would be not only completely all right with us but we would also pin a medal on that vampire."

The guy corrected his tie, grew even more nervous, and continued after a brief hesitation, "And this is where we enter a rather grey and politically incorrect area. What if somebody doesn't plan an immediate terrorist action and is not a terrorist in fact but his behaviour has a long lasting negative effect on the society nonetheless. For example, a group of illegal immigrants who, let's say, form a criminal gang and engage in drug trafficking activities. I mean, it doesn't matter that they are illegal immigrants, you can imagine criminals born here just as well..."

"Oh for Merlin's sake," exclaimed Smith. "Look who's listening to you. A wizard, a goblin, and a bunch of vampires. One would think that you are talking in front of the European parliament!"

"Are you trying to say that it's OK to eat criminals?" asked Eleazar.

"Certain kind of criminals. Some criminals are better left to authorities," responded the agent.

"I'll rephrase. Criminals who don't pay taxes and who won't be missed."

"It's not that simple."

Carlisle interjected, "Look, a vampire does not need Edward's gift to recognize a monster masquerading as a human. Hunters who kill innocent people for sport will be destroyed, that's all."

"There's a perfect way to explain this," spoke the agent strongly. "Imagine that ten years from now, existence of vampires will be revealed along with details of what the army was doing or rather not doing about them. Now, we need to ensure that the president who will be in the office by that time will be able to have a press conference and say, quote, Our armed forces have always protected the people living in this country and will continue to do so for as long as this nation exists but we can't possibly protect people who have decided to live outside of law, unquote. If any president will be able to say that and still get re-elected, then we have no problem here."

The others stared at him for a moment. The goblin grinned, raised his finger, and spoke for the first time since the meeting started, "Now that's what I call a strong, solid guideline. I think we should make it a part of our official doctrine."

Others made their comments as well. After a while, Eleazar asked the goblin, "Excuse me, what exactly is your angle in this?"

"We aren't afraid of vampires getting out of control. In the worst case scenario, we would simply retreat underground. We would have an advantage there, even against vampires. However, it wouldn't get that far. We have significant investments in human world, both magical and non-magical. And right now, we need to know whether you can keep the situation peaceful, or whether we need to hurry development our latest invention and start manufacturing it."

"Mechanical anti-vampire robots," uttered Smith through a corner of his mouth.

"Golems!" protested the goblin.

"Are they made of metal?"

"Yes."

"Are they mechanical?"

"Indeed."

"Do they look like big, human skeletons?"

"Yes!"

"Well, there's a name for such things in non-magical culture."

They discussed other matters for almost another hour. The three visitors excused themselves then because their attention started to slip and all of them needed to report to their superiors.

Before leaving though, the goblin took out a box and asked the Denalis, "Can we assume at this point that you are willing to accept this responsibility?"

They looked at each other. The three sisters nodded, one after another. Eleazar spoke, "I don't think there are many other options and we don't want chaos any more than Carlisle does."

The goblin opened the box and approached Eleazar. There was a strangely looking dagger inside.

"In that case, I present you with this weapon," he said. "It's a token from my superiors signifying our alliance. I should warn you though, to avoid later misunderstandings, that this is merely a loan. For as long as you exist and for as long as you do this job. Then it needs to return to its maker because this is no ordinary dagger. It was forged for vampires and against vampires. It's sharp and strong enough to harm your kind and upon contact with venom, it sucks some of it inside itself and uses it to keep itself in perfect condition."

The gesture was a surprise for everybody. After a moment of stunned silence, the goblin broke the atmosphere by adding, "It might fall apart without venom though. During periods of disuse, make sure to lick the blade at least once a month. Be careful not to cut your tongue, that would be annoying."

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Smith. "No metal has properties like that!"

"Well, Gryffindor's sword worked in similar manner," uttered Bella.

"Who says it's a metal?" sneered the goblin.

Both Smith and the agent gave Eleazar their visit cards, already establishing a practice of communicating through the "junior" member of the clan. Smith then turned to Bella and handed her a package.

"Hermione Granger sends you this," he told her.

Bella unwrapped the package. It was a thick book. There was some kind of plastic pocket glued to it's back which contained a thin booklet.

"Rita Skeeter?" exclaimed Bella.

"Indeed. It was published after the ministry fell. After the war, your friend wrote an editorial which supplements or corrects certain facts. Skeeter and Granger reached an agreement to add the editorial to next edition and to ship all the already printed books with this editorial attached."

The book's title was "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore".

The three visitors said their farewells and walked outside. This time the Denalis watched as they teleported.

"Marvellous," remarked Eleazar. "To imagine a whole world filled with such wonders..."

"Well, we ourselves are quite a remarkable part of those wonders," observed Carlisle. "Just imagine what we can bring to this world one day. In the area of space exploration for example. But, that's still far in the future."

They talked for about two more hours, mostly about Carlisle's opinions and plans. It didn't surprise anybody that Carlisle wanted to pursue a scientific career. However, when they tried to learn more about Bella, she told them, "I think that's a topic for another time. In fact, Edward and me should visit you later together. We'll tell you all about our adventures then. Some of them are quite funny, like that time when we were trapped by giant ants and Jared freaked out completely. Remember that, Carlisle?"

"I'm not even going to answer that," dead-panned Carlisle.

"Who's Jared?" asked Eleazar.

"Giant ants?" asked Carmen.

"Edward will tell you the whole story next time," promised Bella. "I'm sure we'll have a good laugh about it."

Before leaving, Carlisle and Bella gave Eleazar a quantum-entanglement walkie-talkie.

"Now we can always contact each other easily," commented Carlisle.

They said their goodbyes and started running back to Forks.

* * *

At the same time as Carlisle and Bella were leaving their cousins, a jet plane dropped Jasper and Alice above an ocean. They opened their parachutes a half a kilometre above the water and glided towards a search ship which was waiting for them. They still landed some distance away from it but that was no problem. They swam to it and boarded. Some of the crew members noticed the parachutes and saw them boarding later but made no comments about the suspiciously short time it took them to get to the ship. In fact, the sole fact that the captain didn't order to dispatch a rescue boat was weird enough on its own.

"Well, they've told me that you two can help us to find Ohio faster," said the captain instead of a greeting when they entered his office. He knew about magic and saw that the newcomers were vampires but he hoped that they would be of better use than as divers.

"Indeed," replied Jasper in similarly short manner. "Do you have your search plan here?"

The captain unrolled a map instead of an answer.

"I see, a classic snail pattern. Each strip takes almost a day to complete. And right now, we are here. Is that correct?" Jasper stabbed his finger in the map as he said that. The captain nodded.

"Well, finish the strip we are doing right now. You won't find anything, I assure you, but it would be best to finish it."

"How do you know that?" asked the captain.

"It would interfere with our readings if I told you how it works," evaded Jasper and used his gift on the captain. "Now, after you finish the strip, change the course to next one, as planned. And here comes the crucial point: if we tell you to keep going, keep going in that course."

"What?" exclaimed the captain, completely confused.

"You are dealing with a quadratic problem," spoke Alice. "We can linearise it and search your whole rectangle in time it takes to sail through one strip. And after that, we'll move to a neighbouring area and then to next one and so on."

"What am I supposed to tell the crew?"

"That you have received new orders because some egghead narrowed the area in which to search for the submarine," stated Jasper. "As you know already, your commanding officer is on board with this so it won't be far from truth."

* * *

A normal person would read Skeeter's book about Dumbledore first and Hermione's editorial second. However, it was more logical for a vampire to read the booklet first, store it in memory, and apply it as a differential "patch" later, while reading the book itself.

"Well, I'm stumped," admitted Bella to Edward when she was finished. "And not just because he was a gay. I've always looked at him like on an old, powerful, senile man who likes to play chess with people. But now I see how human, flawed, and outright idiotic he was. And not because he stood at the roots of Nazi ideology, he couldn't have possibly predicted that."

"Let me guess," commented Edward. "That won't make you to forgive him. Not even a little."

"And why should it? If anything, it makes me to hate him even more. He was just a faulty human, he knew he was just a faulty human, and yet he behaved like a god. I can't ever forgive him for that."

"Maybe there was simply no one better," remarked Edward and his eyes flicked to Fawkes who was eating cereals in the kitchen.

Bella shook her head, stood up, and said, "Well, I'm going to give this to Carlisle. Let's see what he makes of it. Unless you wish to go through it yourself?"

"No, I'm all right," declined Edward. He already knew what was in the book.

* * *

Bella and Smith trotted through a corridor in the Pentagon three days later.

"What exactly is this about?" asked Bella when they reached a security check. She had some fuzzy idea already but there was no time to explain properly. It goes without saying that she didn't like being away from her daughter but she planned to join Alice and Jasper anyway.

"The claim of your friends that Ohio will be found today drew some attention. Now the brass wants to hear about this possible threat from yourself."

One of the guards caught some of that. It was enough to distract him from Bella's alien beauty. "They found Ohio?" he blurted before he could stop himself. "Do they know what happened? Was it Russians?"

Smith glared at him sternly.

"I can't tell them anything more than I have already told you," argued Bella as they walked to their destination.

"Well, they want to hear it from you."

Bella and Smith arrived to a small conference room. Everybody was already there and some of them were already explaining the situation to others. Smith introduced everybody and told Bella that all of them had a clearance to know about magic. There was even an old wizard present. Almost none of the muggles had ever seen a vampire before.

There was a big screen at the front of the room. It displayed the expected position of USS Ohio and a big circle displaying Bella's estimate of the origin of the dark echo. The dot representing the wreck site was quite near it's centre.

Some admiral opened the meeting by questioning the reliability of the news that USS Ohio was going to be found soon. He was speaking to the entire room but Bella was the only one who could answer.

"Yes, it's quite solid. If you doubt it, I'll let you know that the same method was used to ambush a Volturi guard earlier this week. So, unless there is another sunk submarine down there, I'm pretty sure we have found Ohio."

"It matters little," spoke Smith. "The search ship is going to reach the site in a matter of hours and then we'll see. However, I strongly advise you to dispatch a salvage ship immediately. A helicopter carrying a team of divers is already headed to the ship. Bella, me, and few others are going there right now. Any of you are free to join us and take a look for yourselves."

Nobody took the offer right away though some considered it. Then the question of Bella's warning was raised.

"I have nothing to add to what I have already said in that regard," she said. "If you want me to give you facts, I have to disappoint you - you can't translate a feeling into facts."

"Do you expect us to operate based on your feelings, miss?" asked an admiral.

"Misses," corrected Bella.

"I beg your pardon?" asked the admiral, who either overheard the reply or didn't understand why it was relevant (and it wasn't, strictly speaking).

"Misses. I got married a few months ago."

The irrelevance of the information and Bella's demeanour stumped the officers for a moment. Smith himself was rather surprised by the news but he collected himself quickly.

"Look, this is magic," he insisted. "What seems like a gut feeling to you is as good as seeing or hearing for us. But like I've said, we'll go down there and we'll take a look ourselves. An once again, you are free to join us."

In the end, there was enough of them to form two groups. It took two hours to organize the trip. Bella used the time to "talk" to Edward and Elizabeth over her wristwatch.

Smith was going to take Bella and investigators looking into the incident while the old wizard was going to take a few observing officers. Smith was going to use a beacon he had given to Alice while the old wizard created his own and gave it to Smith. They contacted the ship and ordered it to stop just to be sure.

All the muggles were nauseated by the travel, some of them started to vomit upon arriving. The captain made sure that none of the sailors saw the manner of the arrival of the visitors but some crew members noticed the group as it was moving to the bridge. Soon, almost everybody knew that some high officials were on board, possible since the beginning of the voyage.

Upon arriving to the bridge, Jasper welcomed Bella by pointing at a map and informing her, "We shall arrive to the wreck site in two hours."

She knew that already. Jasper was merely confirming that Alice's vision was remaining solid. Per their previous agreement, none of the three vampires was giving the others any indication that Alice was a psychic. That strategy included Jasper doing all the talking.

"Well, then we have just enough time to get ready," proclaimed Smith, rubbing his hands. "Captain, if you could please accommodate the observers."

"I hope you don't expect me to observe from down there," spoke the elderly wizard. He was talking rather slowly and his voice voice seemed tired.

"Of course not, the temperatures down there wouldn't do you good," replied Smith. "I have brought a scrying tool-kit though, that should allow you to observe my progress down there."

"You will be coming?" asked Bella.

"Of course. What if my expertise is required?"

The scrying equipment consisted of a middle sized round mirror and a glass button connected by quantum entanglement. They had plenty of cameras but the mirror was able to give much clearer image. Smith was going to take a magical radio as well, since a normal one wouldn't work under the bubble-head spell. It seemed that the ideas of Bella's and her friends had not been so unique after all.

The three vampires were equipped with completely normal mini-cameras and texting devices for communication. They also carried Geiger counters. Heavier cameras, light sources, and other equipment was carried by divers who were going to follow after the four explorers. They didn't have a mini-sub at their disposal.

The ship approached the area and the sonar officer informed the captain that he had a signal. Smith threw a look at the observers and followed the vampires outside. While the ship was coming to a stop, Smith put a neoprene on. The investigators were repeating their instructions to diving team one last time. The vampires weren't waiting for anything though and jumped in the water.

"They've got no oxygen," muttered one of the sailors who saw it.

The vampires released almost all air from their lungs and started to swim to the bottom. Back at the ship, their camera feeds were getting darker and darker. Smith made sure that all his equipment was well fastened (including a small emergency oxygen supply) and jumped after them.

"It's Ohio," texted Jasper suddenly.

"What? I don't see anything," protested one of the observers.

"Of course not," muttered the old wizard in that "elderly" voice of his. Smith was in water as well already but he was nowhere near the wreck yet.

The vampires split and approached the wreck from three sides. There was major structural damage but the hull was in one piece. By the time Smith arrived, Jasper and Bella were filming the apparent entry and exit points. They were first images of the submarine the people on the surface received. It seemed that something tore into the submarine from a side, made its way to the bridge, and tore its way out again.

Smith conjured a ball of bright light which illuminated the entire area for about ten seconds. He didn't wish to interfere with all the electronic devices by creating a more permanent light source. Nonetheless, it provided the observers back on the ship with a first solid image of the entire submarine.

"Can you return to that image?" asked one of observers when the mirror darkened again.

"It's a mirror," responded the old wizard slowly. "It shows what it shows."

Jasper and Alice slid inside the entry hole. There was no point for all of them to go in nor was it a good idea in the improbable case that it was a trap. Bella's magical senses probably wouldn't be any good in there either. The incident had happened almost two months before their arrival and it seemed that it was quick. The likelihood of any magical residue lingering there was slight.

While Bella remained standing on the submarine's tower, waiting for her companions to emerge from the bridge, Smith swam to the part of the hull which housed the missiles. The area seemed intact at first glance. The radioactivity levels seemed OK. The divers arrived and started a proper survey.

As soon as Jasper and Alice entered the submarine, they started finding dead bodies. Alas, they also found shrimps, crabs, and lobsters which were munching on the remains. They even startled a small shark. Alice swatted him away as he passed them. The bodies weren't cleanly picked yet but there was no telling what killed them. They had to search further.

What they did find were additional signs of destruction inside the submarine which was caused before the crash itself. Finally they found an area which wasn't easily accessible to scavengers. They cleared the way carefully and found a body which was still rather whole. There was no doubt about it - the man had been drained by a vampire. Jasper sent a message up. The bridge was nearby so they headed towards it, pulling the body after them.

The bridge was full of fish. They scattered when Alice and Jasper entered. The vampires followed them out and rejoined Bella. She looked at the body and then took a quick peek inside the bridge, finding nothing of interest. Neither she nor Smith could detect any kind of magical residue.

Jasper and Alice took the body to the surface and found out quickly that there were no traces of venom left - the seawater took washed it all away. Jasper asked the captain to start a detailed sonar scan of the seabed around the crash site. The observers wanted to ask questions but Jasper claimed that he had more work to do. Both vampires rejoined Bella and they started to search around the ship. Bella believed that there was something else to be found.

In the meantime, the divers inspected the missile bays and found out (to a great relief of the present brass) that all the warheads were accounted for. The reactor was safe as well.

Jasper, Alice, Bella, and Smith searched the area for several hours. They attempted to utilize Alice's vision but the paradox of self-fulfilling prophecy seemed to be obstructing them so they searched in a more conventional manner because it was simpler in such a small area. Smith took a break during that time to confer with the old wizard and returned back. The diver team returned to the surface and only two of them returned down with fresh air supply.

Finally, Alice had a vision of herself noticing an anomaly in sedimentation and subsequently discovering something under it. They swam to the place and the vampires started to excavate. Smith had to retreat away from the resulting cloud of dust.

When it settled, Smith approached the pit and contacted the surface. "I believe we have found something."

There was some kind of sarcophagus or coffin down there. Its lid was broken into pieces. Bella held her hand to it.

"This is where the echo originated," she texted.

Smith pointed at the coffin and then he pointed upwards. The vampires nodded. Smith returned to the surface to organize the lift.

The ship wasn't equipped for a salvage operation and the coffin was heavy but between two wizards and three vampires, they had the entire thing up in no time. The sight of the ancient coffin shifted the mill of rumours among superstitious sailors into overdrive. The old wizard took some kind of an instrument from his pocket and held it above the coffin.

"Well, there are traces of magical activity on it," he observed.

"That's it?" asked Jasper. "What kind of magic?"

"Now, now. I can't possibly analyse it actively with spells - that would destroy what little traces there are left. In other words, we have arrived too late."

"I see. And do you have any idea what is this mark?" asked Bella. The three vampires held the lid together, inner side to the wizard. The outer side was smooth but the inner one had some kind of an engraving. It was an intricate circular mark. The old wizard stared at it for a while, searching his memory.

"Intriguing," he said after a while.

"What is?" asked Bella.

"Well, it looks like a mark of an ancient vampire. A certain line of them started to use those a few millennia ago."

"Well, whose mark it is?"

"I don't know, I would need to confer with my books. Would you mind copying the mark on a sheet of paper for me?"

While Alice was making a copy, the wizard borrowed Smith's magical "camera" and communicator. He took the paper from Alice and apparated away.

Smith and the others assembled around the mirror an hour later. The old wizard was showing them an old book about the war with the Romanian coven.

"Do you see this inner circle?" he asked, pointing at Alice's drawing. "It's a variation of this mark." He pointed at a drawing in the book.

"Yes, I can see that," confirmed Bella.

The mark in the book belonged to the head of the Romanian coven.

"Does that mean that the tomb belonged to some semi-ancient turned by the Romanian leader?" asked Jasper.

"No, on the contrary," said the old wizard from the mirror. "Semi-ancients weren't and aren't using marks like that. Those are reserved only for true vampires. The mark in the coffin is larger than the mark of the Romanian ancient. Hence, it belonged to his creator."

"Wait a minute," protested Jasper. "This doesn't make sense. Are you telling me that vampires of a lower generation took a mark which was a variation of a part of the mark of their sire? Why not simply take the mark of the sire and add another circle to it? That way the inner circles would be always exactly same and only the outers ones would differ."

"Well, that's what a modern human would think. But undead from the old times saw things differently. They had no reason not to, with their inhuman intelligence. It was more logical for them for fledglings to have smaller marks rather than the other way around. Moreover, they were aware of how much of undead potential was in them and how far from last generation they were, just like humans know whether they are old or young. The first one simply fashioned a mark with a corresponding number of circles and his creations made similar ones with one circle removed. To differentiate from their siblings, they shifted the pieces in the mark a little. As if it was some kind of mechanical clockwork made of living metal. Of course, what I've just said barely covers the basics of the matter. Unfortunately, I'm no expert in these matters nor do I have more detailed books on the subject in my possession."

"Wait a minute," exclaimed Smith. "Are you actually telling us that there was an ancient vampire of next to last generation in this coffin? And that it was this monster which attacked Ohio and is now somewhere out there?"

"Well, I wouldn't make that leap but the first part seem to be true. Of course, I would need to confer with some of my old acquaintances which are more knowledgeable in this area of history. Alas, some of them went to hiding, others won't speak to me, and the rest have probably deceased of old age."

"It still sounds far-fetched," mumbled Smith. "The Romanian coven was destroyed entirely."

"No, not entirely," corrected him Jasper. "Two of them, Vladimir and Stefan, are still at large, plotting a revenge on the Volturi. Carlisle met them and he is sure that they are semi-ancient. Aro himself knows about them as well."

"What?!" exclaimed Smith. "Why haven't you told me this before?"

"I've thought Bella did," excused Jasper himself. "She considered it a rather important information when she learned it."

"Well, Carlisle told me this when I was still human," snapped Bella. "A lot happened in the meantime, including my transformation."

"Maybe Carlisle could contact this Vladimir and Stefan and find out what they know," proposed Smith.

"Well, I'll pass the word but maybe it isn't such a good idea to draw their attention just yet," mused Jasper. "Have you considered a possibility that they are somehow behind this? Isn't it a little bit too convenient that this ancient vampire have woken just now, when the Volturi are about to fall?"

"Ancient vampires can sleep?" remarked Alice.

"Maybe some kind of stasis to escape detection," theorized Bella. "The coffin itself is probably shielded as well."

"Either way, we need to find out more," resolved Smith.

"Maybe we could ask Eldridge," proposed Bella. "That's a semi-ancient lawyer who worked for my family once," she added for Smith's benefit. "We also need to bring our European allies in on this. While they didn't loose a nuclear submarine over this, it concerns them more than us." As a matter of fact, she was relaying everything to Edward who was writing messages to Eldridge and Hermione already.

"OK, let's summarise it," stated Smith. "Let's assume that an ancient vampire went to stasis to wait out the war with wizards. He wakes up later, when the magical world is no longer adapted to fighting his kind. Let's assume that his waking was what Bella felt. Now, you two have searched the ship. Do you agree that it was definitely a vampire attack?"

"A very chaotic one," answered Jasper. "That guy was all over the place, feeding at random. He probably had no idea what the submarine was, he just knew that there were people. No ordinary vampire would ever attack a nuclear submarine and if he did, he would make a surgically precise strike. He would finish his goals as quickly as possible and he would leave no traces. In fact, I would bet that this ancient vampire is cursing himself now for making a blunder like that."

"It must have been like a scene from a horror movie," remarked Alice.

"The irony is, they had the bast chance of destroying him," alleged Bella. "He was alone, confused, and still weak. Moreover, they had him in an enclosed space."

"Unfortunately, the crew had no idea what was happening," disagreed Jasper. "And I don't think they would be able to do it without destroying the ship and themselves. There is one thing which is in our advantage though: his skin have surely deteriorated over the centuries. He can be taken out by gunfire now."

"Unless he obtains some magical armour first," contended Smith. "Which brings me to a question: what did he do afterwards?"

"Well, if he is who we think he is, he tried to get in touch with the Romanians probably," theorized Bella. "Then he probably started to gather followers. Don't forget that he can create more ancient vampires. I mean, new vampires of ancient generation. That could possibly mean a small population explosion of ancients and semi-ancients."

Smith contemplated it all for a while and then he said, "Very well, I guess I need to get going. I need to talk to some people." There was a hidden question whether some of the vampires didn't want to come along.

"Given the circumstances, you should return home, Bella," offered Jasper.

"And you should talk to Tanya, things are moving faster than we have expected," disagreed Bella. "I can stay here till the salvage ship arrives. In case there were problems."

"Very well," said Jasper.

With Jasper and Alice, Smith was able to take only two more people with him. The highest officers had priority, of course. The others protested at getting stuck there but Smith resolutely told them that he was a wizard, not a taxi service.

When Smith and his passengers left, Bella went back down to the submarine. There were reflectors set all over the vessel and the divers were in the process of securing the reactor and the warheads. Bella looked around a little but she found nothing else of interest.

She returned to the surface and inspected the coffin instead. The material it was made of was truly peculiar. She wagered that it was of volcanic origin. Then, stricken by a sudden idea, she laid in the coffin and attempted to read more vibes from it.

* * *

Jacob and Emmett arrived to Hawaii. Emmett was using the sunscreen, of course. They rented a car. While they were driving to their destination, Billy called his daughter.

"Rebecca?"

"Dad?" she answered.

"It would be better if we didn't speak English," he proposed in Quileute.

"Why?" she asked.

"Just being cautious. Jacob is on his way to you, he'll explain everything."

"Jacob? When is he going to arrive?"

"He should be at your house in about half an hour."

That surprised Rebecca and she asked what was it was about but Billy merely reiterated that Jacob was going to explain everything to her and her husband. Billy didn't need to ask whether he was nearby, he knew that already.

Jacob and Emmett arrived in the expected time-frame. Emmett remained in the car for the moment but Jacob went to the house right away where he was greeted by his sister and her husband. Only then did Emmett step out and followed.

"What is this about?" asked Rebecca.

"There are things in motion and we are pulling certain people living away from La Push back home," answered Jacob. "It's a safety precaution, we aren't aware of any concrete danger to your family specifically. Nonetheless, it's necessary."

It took a lot of effort to explain everything, prove that shape-shifters and vampires are real. It took even more effort to convince the couple to move to La Push.


	5. Aro's End

Aro's End

"Well?" asked Hermione Granger.

Eldridge nodded to a sheet of paper which was laying on a table and answered, "It's been some time since I saw something like this but yes, this is a mark of an ancient vampire of penultimate generation indeed, if we aren't counting my own generation." Not that it mattered how long it was since he had dealt with anything concerning ancient vampires.

"The creator of the creator of the Romanian coven?"

"Definitely. A grandfather of Vladimir and Stefan, you could say. I'm speaking about the mark, of course."

"The vampire who was inside the coffin could have been somebody completely else?"

"If it was an ancient one, then no. But was it an ancient one?"

Hermione stroked her chin and asked, "What about this dark echo Bella spoke about?"

"I'm afraid I was rather busy at the time so I can't be sure."

"Does that mean that you have felt something?"

"Looking back, I think I did. I can't tell you anything concrete though. I have a few friends among my kind, perhaps I could ask them."

Hermione nodded and proposed, "And what about trying to talk to this Vladimir and Stefan?"

"I'm afraid that unlike Dr. Cullen, I have never met them. In fact, I was as surprised as you were when I learned that they were still around."

Hermione nodded. She joined her hands and rested her elbows on the table.

"Very well," she said. "On a different note, have you considered the offer which my superiors gave you?"

"To become a new Aro? I can't say that the idea appeals to me. Moreover, I have my law firm and I can't abandon my duties there. However, I wouldn't mind taking a page from Dr. Cullen's book a offering you my services as a middleman."

"Between us and who?"

"Well, there aren't that many options here and none of them are vegetarian, I admit. What about the last surviving member of the ancient Egyptian coven? Unlike me, he's a normal wild vampire but he's older than many semi-ancients."

"Are you serious? First, his creators betrayed their creator. And then he abandoned them in the war with Aro. He's a coward."

"Precisely. Isn't a weak figurehead better for your purposes?"

"Maybe. But he lives in Egypt. We need someone local."

"That he does. The question is, how large do you want this thing to be?"

Hermione blew some air through her nose and responded, "My superiors are glad at the moment to keep things in order in Britain. I myself have no plans reaching beyond Europe in foreseeable future. Africa and Asia can take an example from Northern America and find their own vampire lords. That was a hyperbole."

"Or maybe it wasn't," countered Eldridge. "The Americans were lucky to find not one but two groups of friendly vegetarian vampires. An agreeable not-so-bloodthirsty vampire lord is the best you can hope for here."

"Only if we wish to follow the American model of autonomy for vampire population."

"Exactly. Maybe something broader would be better. Some kind of a committee of non-human sentient species?"

"That's bound to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Goblins, for example."

"Well, I wasn't thinking about them when I've said that. They are a full fledged nation."

"Not that we have any other option of looking at them. They are major players now."

They shot ideas back and forth for a while. Eldridge didn't have much fantasy but he was able to think ahead. All that Hermione had to do was to generate one idea after another and Eldridge analysed each of them to determine whether they had any merit. Of course, all of it it was just an academic discussion between the two of them. However, Hermione's superiors were most likely to take their ideas into consideration.

They discussed the situation with the Volturi in the end. Spurned by the recent attack on a group of Volturi guards, the Italian Ministry of Magic was tightening security around Volterra. Mainly because they feared that Hermione's superiors would approach the Italian military instead (which was quietly happening anyway). Unfortunately, the stances of both magical and non-magical Italy on the entire matter were still rather uncertain. Eldridge promised to keep an eye on the situation through a certain contact of his.

* * *

Three Italian Aurors were hiding in a make-shift conjured cabin on a perimeter around Volterra. The cabin was invisible to muggles and it was a monitoring station for a section of perimeter wards around the town. The wards were special and simple at the same time - they exploited the reflexive skin of vampires. Sort of like a radar. In short, no vampire was able to get in or out of town. The perimeter was large enough to encompass the entire sewage system and any other subterranean passages. There were also inner wards which prevented apparation and such.

"There's somebody outside," said one of the men.

"It's a muggle probably," suggested another. "Ignore him, he can't see us. He's just passing by."

It really seemed so. However, some kind of a smoke bomb was thrown inside through a window a little while later. The released gas made the three man fall asleep before they could cast a bubble-head spell.

The man outside opened the door and let the gas disperse. The gas also acted as a mild short-term memory eraser. The man checked the three Aurors and stepped out again to wave at somebody in distance. It was a middle of night but the man had no doubt that the recipient of the signal would see it perfectly. Then he returned to the cabin. It was time to clean up and all of it had to be done without magic. It had to appear as if nothing happened.

At the time, Aro was holding a meeting in the main chamber. The three brothers were present and they were joined by Chelsea. The only other guard member there was Renata who couldn't be separated from Aro.

There was no one else, because all the senior guard members were dead. It has been a terrible blow when they had been attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange two years before. For a while, it had seemed that the coven would recuperate and find suitable reinforcements. The loss of Afton previous year had stumped those efforts. Finally, they had lost contact with Jane's group and Heidi had not returned from a fishing expedition.

While Aro and Caius discussed the situation, Marcus seemed to be utterly uninterested. Whether it was from overexposure to Chelsea's gift or withdrawal from overexposure to the gift of his deceased "mate" was uncertain. It was the combination of the two probably because Chelsea would have never been able to pierce a mind of a semi-ancient if it had not been for that withdrawal.

As Aro saw it, the most immediate problem was the fact that they were trapped in Volterra. At first, they had stayed in their traditional seat of power because they had not wished to appear week. Then they had remained because leaving would mean walking through a metaphorical gauntlet of shame formed by sneering, arrogant, Italian wizards. At the moment, he was afraid of even trying to leave because he didn't wish to find out how would the Aurors around react. At the same time, no wizards were in hurry to stage a raid and so the status quo continued.

Suddenly, their perfect vampire ears caught sounds of commotion coming from from the maze of tunnels connected to the chamber. Then there was a cry of pain and a typical pseudo-metallic sound of a vampire being torn apart. Aro and Caius were on their feet in an instant and started to call alarm. The remnants of the guard sprung into action all over the castle, both under and above ground. Unfortunately for Aro, they were pitifully chaotic. Some of them had never seen a real action (meaning a fair fight).

The attackers moved through the castle like a hot wire through butter. Some guards attempted to flee but the attackers weren't having that. In the end, they corralled everybody with the exception of the wives and Corin to the main chamber.

A hideous (even by Aro's standards) monster entered. Its skin, if it was truly skin and not flesh, didn't just look like chalk - it looked like a piece of chalk which was falling apart. Its eyes were completely white. All in all, the creature looked like a diseased, blind fish.

What was even worse was some kind of an unholy aura which emitted from the vampire. The surviving guards were completely overwhelmed by it and unable to take any action. Even Aro and Caius felt its weight. The ancient vampire measured Aro with judging eyes and said nothing.

A while later, two additional vampires arrived. Vladimir and Heidi, who smirked at Aro victoriously.

"The wives and the addictive vampire are secured," informed Vladimir. "They don't seem to be of any consequence." He was speaking in outdated Romanian.

"Destroy all three them. They would be useless as trophies," retorted the hideous vampire in ancient Moldavian. His voice was screechy and unpleasant. He was referring to the fact that the wives were largely unknown and therefore it would serve no purpose to parade them as a proof that the Volturi were defeated. Vladimir waved sharply at a vampire who was waiting in an antechamber. Then he and his master approached Aro and Caius. Heidi trailed behind.

"As you have surely guessed, it was Heidi who showed us the secret passage," said the Romanian semi-ancient. "Maybe you shouldn't have destroyed her coven and enslaved her. By the way, my brother Stephan sends his regards. He truly regrets that he can't be here now and see your faces."

Caius snarled at the traitor (Heidi). At a little signal from the ancient vampire, Vladimir and another vampire moved forward. Caius attempted to pull out his magical flame-thrower but he was seized and promptly torn apart.

"Nice," remarked Vladimir as he picked the gadget up and used it to torch the pieces.

Aro hid behind Renate but the ancient one walked right through her shield, swatting her aside. She was caught by Vladimir who tore her head off and let the others to take care of the body. In the meantime, the ancient grabbed Aro by his throat and lifted him. Aro flailed around with his arms and hit the ancient one in his face. The vampire's ugly nose fell apart and crumbled away. The already hideous face became even more hideous. It made sense that it had no integrity - after all, it was just an useless piece of flesh which just consumed nutrients.

"A measly clerk and a squib, playing at a vampire lord," growled the ancient vampire and ended Aro's pathetic un-life.

Vladimir and his master turned to Chelsea at last.

"I can be useful," she said in a shaky voice.

"I have no need for you," snarled the ancient one and ordered her execution.

Vladimir turned to Marcus and tried to talk to him. Marcus barely acknowledged him. He informed him that it had been Aro who had destroyed Didyme. Somehow, he doubted that he was telling Marcus anything new. He nodded at Heidi who took Marcus's hand and led him aside. It seemed that he was to be their trophy.

In the end, Vladimir turned to all the surviving guards and addressed them, "Well, that's it. Rather anticlimactic, don't you think? Now, Italian Aurors will be here pretty soon. We have means of getting out of here. You can either join us, or stay to face a degrading imprisonment and eventual death at the hands of humans. Your choice."

Of course, Vladimir and his master already knew that everybody who was still alive by that point would accept - everybody else had been destroyed during the assault.

Vladimir took a rectangular box from his pocket. There was a long, thin, strong cord. It was a slingshot Portkey. It enabled its user to return to the place where it was created. It's advantage was its ability to provide an easy retreat even out of warded areas.

Vladimir unwrapped it and offered one of its ends to his master. He himself held onto the cord just below. Heidi led Marcus to the Portkey and clasped his hand around it. They were followed by all their companions and finally by the surviving Volturi guards. The ancient vampire activated the Portkey and they vanished.

It took two hours before the medieval halls and corridors filled with wizards.

* * *

Smith and Carlisle strode through the corridors of the Volturi castle. It brought on old memories for Carlisle. Strictly speaking, the matter was none of Smith's business. Unfortunately, the Italians weren't willing to let a British investigator to inspect the site. That applied doubly for the "treacherous muggle-born" Hermione. Smith represented an acceptable compromise.

Carlisle was there because he had known Aro. He didn't wish to participate in those matters any more but was one of the few who were able to identify the scents of the Volturi, if it was still possible. Bella wished to be there as well but Smith wasn't allowed to bring more than one vampire.

"What happened here?" demanded Smith from the leading investigator when they arrived to the main chamber.

The addressed Auror didn't understand Smith but his tone irritated him. He retorted in Italian that he didn't speak English.

"Allow me," offered Carlisle and addressed the Auror in fluent Italian. "Please apologize my friend's agitation but we need to determine the real state of things as soon as possible. I was a guest here once a long time ago. If the ashes and other traces are still undisturbed, I can try to determine their genuineness."

The Italian Auror studied the vampire before him dubiously for a moment. Then he nodded and pointed with his eyes to the ashes on the floor. There was some equivalent of a police tape around them by that point but there were also signs of somebody walking over them. Carlisle looked back at the Auror who stared back at him with hard expression in his eyes, daring him to voice any kind of criticism.

Carlisle knelt on the floor and leaned forward to sniff at the ashes. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He moved around the room slowly.

Just when the Italian Auror started to get impatient, Carlisle stood up and told him (still in Italian), "The burning shifted the scent quite much but I'm sure this is Aro." He pointed at some ashes. "Of course, I can't be sure if it's all of him or if he merely tore his arm off and burned it."

"Have you said Aro? Is this him?" asked Smith and pointed (the name was the only thing he understood).

"No, Chelsea starts at the place you are pointing at," replied Carlisle dryly. He walked over to another place, sniffed, and added, "And I believe that this is Caius. Of course, it would be best to bring Eleazar here and have it confirm it but I'm afraid that these ashes will be dispersed by draft by that time."

"Very well. Is there anything else?"

Carlisle gave him a strange signal with his eyes.

"Well, let's go then. Obviously, our Italian colleagues have everything well in hand here."

When they walked out, Smith said, "OK, what is it?"

Carlisle handed him a small envelope made of fine, crisp paper.

"What is it? Ashes?" asked Smith.

"No. Rather strange crumbs of crumbled flesh of a strange vampire. I think."

"How did you get them?"

"I noticed them while searching for Aro's ashes and collected them when nobody was looking."

"You've stolen evidence from a crime scene! I mean, a site of investigation," exclaimed Smith.

"Do you disapprove?"

"No, I'm merely surprised."

"Are you going to give it to miss Granger?"

"Hell no. What if they won't share the results with us?"

"Like we didn't tell them right away about the business with the submarine?"

* * *

Bella and Edward met with Jacob.

"OK, what's this about?" asked the boy when neither vampire started to speak.

"Very well," opened Bella. "The thing is that the situation is becoming complicated and potentially dangerous."

"So?" prodded Jacob.

"So, we won't be keeping you away from Elizabeth from now on. She disrupts Alice's vision anyway and your presence won't make it any worse. In fact, should it happen that both me and Edward are both required elsewhere at the same time, we would appreciate if you stayed with her. That is, unless everybody else from our family was available."

Jacob smiled.

"Furthermore, both you and Edward need to be armed when you are on guard duty. Edward by a small revolver at least and you by a machine pistol."

"Are you going to give Elizabeth a gun too?" joked Jacob.

"When she's older," retorted Bella. Edward looked uneasy.

"What?" asked Bella. "My wand does not react to her and she can't walk around empty handed!"

* * *

Jasper and Carlisle were in Denali again.

"Destroyed?" asked Eleazar in disbelief again.

"Indeed. With the exception of those who were recruited by the attackers," confirmed Carlisle. "At first, Bella thought that it was a trick. That Aro sacrificed his hand and had a dark wizard to multiply the ashes. Then results of analysis of those strange crumbs came back. The traces of venom in them had higher concentration than usual and there was a residuum of necromantic magic. They were even able to approximate the generation of the ancient vampire - next to last."

"Which corroborates our find near Ohio's wreck site," added Jasper. "In other words, we are most probably dealing with an ancient vampire who can create other ancient vampires who can create semi-ancient ones."

"Have you smelled Vladimir or Stefan in there?" asked Tanya.

"There was no way to tell," answered Carlisle, shaking his head. "There was a lot of scents and lot of people walked in there afterwards."

"That was unprofessional from them," remarked Eleazar.

"Well, you can't blame them," disagreed Carlisle. "They are used to deal with potion samples, dark curses residues, analysis of spell histories on wands and such. In fact, I believe that a non-magical police wouldn't do much better."

"It doesn't matter," concluded Jasper. "We have what we wanted."

"In the light of recent events, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to kill Demetri and Jane," mused Eleazar. Tanya and her sisters didn't share his sentiment though.

"Maybe," agreed Carlisle.

"I disagree," protested Jasper. "Bella had it right - Aro was a weasel and he would find a way to profit from all of this. And there is enough comfortable cowards out there willing to make deals with such as him. The situation is much simpler with him out of the picture. He was like a devil - you can deal with him, but you'll end up in hell. This new guy is more like a demon. You can't make a deal with him because he won't offer you one. The only thing you can do is to fight."

Thanks to his gift, Jasper knew that Tanya and her sisters felt certain satisfaction over the news.

"There is one thing I don't understand," said Kate. "Why have they spared Marcus? That is, if the absence of his ashes means anything."

"He was no threat to them," theorized Carlisle. "Maybe they even wish to salvage him."

They discussed the matter for a long time.

* * *

Bella and Smith were once again in the Pentagon. They were joined by Hermione this time around. Smith was rehashing the situation to joint chiefs. Fortunately, none of the people he had left on a ship in Atlantic were present.

"All this evidence of yours seems very circumstantial to me," argued one of the generals.

"Well, we aren't trying to convince anybody of murder," retorted Smith. "We are gathering intelligence about our enemy. When you receive an image from a satellite, do you always investigate whether it wasn't tempered with? But to answer your concern - no, this evidence is not circumstantial nor is it an artifice arranged by the enemy. I admit that the venom in those crumbs could be synthetic. Theoretically. But it isn't because a synthetic venom would be clean and the analysed sample is not - it's definitely of organic origin. What can't be duplicated by some dark wizard is the residuum of necromantic energy. The only way such an undead can come to existence is trough natural means. And even if somebody managed to create one artificially, it wouldn't be a fake undead, it would be a true undead."

"Very well then," said another general. "What does this undead vampire want?"

Smith made a gesture and answered rather awkwardly, "Well. He wants to... to take over the world."

"Excuse me?"

"We are talking about an old school vampire lord. To be honest, his ambition isn't much different from policies of kings and emperors of his time. I assure you that he won't stop until all vampires in the world are under his rule and all humans are comatose and stored in vats, with all sorts of needles and rubber tubes sapping their blood. I say theirs instead of ours because all wizards will be long dead by that point."

Some of the high officers around expressed their belief that Smith was exaggerating.

Hermione asked for a turn to speak and when the others listened, she said, "Three years ago, Voldemort managed to catch Britain with its pants down, so to speak. Looking back, we see a lot of things which could have been done differently. Let's not repeat this mistake again. We take this threat very seriously in Britain and I advise you to do the same."

"What do you propose?" asked yet another general. "To create some sort of vampire units to fight this threat?"

"I strongly advise against that," proclaimed Bella, without asking for a turn to speak. "Sure, if you wish for some extra protection for nearest future and want to make yourself feel safer, go ahead and turn a vampire or two, maybe three - if you find suitable candidates. That should be enough to provide additional protection for key personnel. But no more than that and most certainly make no plans for any longer term projects like that. There are better ways than that."

Bella's statement surprised some of officers. They thought that a vampire would promote a solution based on vampires.

"Why do you think that?" asked somebody.

"Vampires are like F-14 interceptors. There is no doubt that F-14 is an excellent aircraft with a distinguished operative history. But do you see anybody manufacturing them today? No, because the model is obsolete. In fact, aren't you planning to retire them in several years? The only difference in this analogy is the fact that the currently existing vampires will continue to function until they are destroyed, loose too many limbs, or become bored with life. Sure, use the vampires who exist today and who have already proven that they can behave themselves but don't create new ones. Remember that even if you find a perfect volunteer, he or she might still turn unstable and you would be forced to execute this volunteer. Also, some kind of retirement options need to be available. Such as construction in space or on Moon."

"Well, that's all very nice but we don't have some equivalent of F-18 as a replacement," argued one of the admirals. He was talking about F/A-18 Super Hornet, of course.

Bella pointed her finger at him and retorted, "And that is where you are wrong. There is."

That surprised even Smith and Hermione.

"Alas, it's in the stage where development of Super Hornet was before its first flight," continued Bella. "Come to think about it, I find this analogy more and more on spot. It's history of being based on the old Hornet but not quite..."

One of the generals looked at his colleagues and exclaimed, "Excuse us. We have no idea what are you talking about."

Bella scratched her neck (which was obviously a rhetorical gesture since she didn't need to) and replied, "That's because the matter is strictly confidential and it's not my place to break that confidentiality. Moreover most of you will be retired by the time this becomes relevant so there is no need to dwell on this right now. Especially since my passive telepathy tells me that you have no great desire to create an army of vampires to begin with. The bottom line is that all we need to focus on right new is a short term solution for the current situation."

Smith came out of his befuddlement. He could tell that most of the officers were annoyed. He quickly continued in his previous line of speech, "Let's not digress. Northern America has a disadvantage of having a much larger area and not enough wizards to cover it. Our advantage is in the fact that we have quite a large number of vegetarian vampires here and a whole tribe of people capable of outrunning even a fastest vampire. Hence, it's logical to base our anti-vampire defence on three pillars: wizards, the alliance around the Quileute tribe, and human soldiers. Goblins will form fourth, independent pillar. Moreover, our allies in Alaska will be tasked with stabilizing the population of American vampires not affiliated with the Romanians."

"What can a human soldier possibly do against a vampire attacker?" questioned an officer.

"Well, goblins have proven that even mere humans can effectively fight a vampire. Not directly, of course. It's more about security and defensive measures. Especially in underground installations, where such things are most effective against vampires. Goblins living in this country are willing to provide their expertise in this area, if you ask them. You should give particular attention to your nuclear silos and command centres such as NORAD. I also assure you that the crew of USS Ohio had a perfect opportunity to destroy the attacker - if they only were prepared for it."

"Are you suggesting to divulge this secret to crews of all submarines?"

"Well, it's a start. I don't think there is any immediate need for it which is convenient because what you've just said is going to take a long time so it's better to start now, slowly and carefully. But remember that the vampire didn't attack Ohio on purpose, it was merely the closest source of humans. I bet that this Romanian, pardon me, Moldavian, was rather shocked and confused by such technology. I'm also sure that he is now cursing himself for such a blunder. He is not prepared for war yet, not by a long-shot. He needs an army first and to control it, he needs to create a command structure. He needs to find suitable people to turn into his lieutenants who will in turn change more suitable people into sub-commanders. This is a high-risk stage for him. He has only two loyal semi-ancients on his side - Vladimir and Stefan. And even those can have their own agenda. He will play it safe, bide his time like Voldemort did after the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

"Well, he needs to be tracked down and destroyed while he does that," resolved one of the generals. "Isn't there some kind aura around him which can be easily detected?"

"That is true. There was an ancient detection ward which was able to detect any ancient vampires entering it. I can have somebody research how to create it. There should a record of that somewhere. Unfortunately, it can cover only a small area and is ultimately useless - he won't attack any important sites personally, he'll act through his henchmen. If you wish to cover an entire nation, especially one as large as United States, you need to have a detection grid of ziggurats, as you know from the materials we've given you. I mean, nodes of the one which used to exist in Mesopotamia were housed in ziggurats. We could use something more modern for our purposes. The problem is that there is no one left alive who can create those nodes or even connect them into a grid. An even bigger problem is the fact that creation of every node is very consuming in terms of manpower and resources. And to cover an area as big as Northern America, you would need hundreds of them. And what is to prevent this vampire to simply stay out of America and Europe?"

"Why do you need hundreds of them? Do they have such a short range?" asked somebody.

"No. At least I don't believe they have short range. They need a clear line of sight to all neighbouring nodes. The connection can't go through rock or anything else for that matter. That is the reason why the grid malfunctioned during sandstorms. So, even if you build really high ziggurats or towers..."

"So even with such a network on-line, that vampire could simply hide underground or better yet, fly around in a private jet, high above the grid? Your historical texts failed to mention that!"

"No, no. That's something else. This limitation applies only to connections between nodes. I don't know all the details, but it seems to me that while a lone node is useless, two nodes form an antenna or something like a magnetic field which can then detect distortions caused by an undead soul of a true vampire. But like I've said, I'm not an expert in this field."

Hermione cleared her throat and asked, "Excuse me, why don't we simply place those nodes on something else? Like balloons. Or better yet, satellites! That way, we can cover the whole planet with a minimal number of nodes. That is, if it's OK for some of those nodes to move but just equatorial ones would surely suffice."

Smith stared back at her with incredulous expression on his face. He retorted after a moment, "I may not be a rocket scientist but I do know that an orbital satellite is a complicated piece of sophisticated technology. And you know what technology doesn't like. These nodes are powerful magic - any electronics nearby would get fried."

"Yes, I do realize that," answered Hermione patiently. "And you should realize that I'm the head of British military research of blending magic and technology. During the short time we have existed, we have already managed to crash a number of old dogmas. Of course, all of that is strictly confidential. You would need to talk to my superiors to get details. I can tell you this however: While magic affects classical electronic devices, it's not generally true that magic and technology can't coexist. In other words, my idea is doable. In fact, it's the only option we've got."

"Did you build some kind of a quantum computer?" asked Bella. Hermione turned her head towards her sharply. "Because that was the only option we had when we were preparing our own gear. Quantum entanglement radios and remote detonators for example."

"I'm not going to answer that."

"I think you already have."

* * *

Bella and Edward were flying above Texas in an inconspicuously looking Cessna. Their task was to uncover and survey presence of any newborn groups in there. Edward searched the ground under them with his gift and Bella analysed any discovered vampires. Their cooperation in this regard was getting better and better. Alas, there wasn't much to survey so far.

"I guess they are all sticking to Mexico," theorized Edward.

"Maybe because Maria has focused on defence ever since Jasper left?" mused Bella.

The fact remained that there wasn't going to be much work for Jasper. The question was what they were going to do later about newborn "armies" further to south. One option was to approach Maria but Jasper claimed that it was a bad idea to give her more power.

* * *

At the same time, Jacob and Elizabeth were reading a book. Heinlein's "Starship Troopers".

"There's one thing Heinlein didn't think about," uttered Elizabeth.

"What is it?" asked Jacob.

"What's to prevent the ruling class from exploiting the situation? After all, we have seen a lot of military dictatorships in this world."

"Well, I'm sure he doesn't mean that military dictatorships are generally good. After all, the ruling class in his society isn't the military but veterans who completed their service with honour. It isn't dictatorship either. There's a democratically elected parliament and such."

"From veterans and by veterans," argued Elizabeth.

"Yes, they are prohibiting a part of their populace from candidating and voting. But guess what, neither of us can go to elections either despite the fact that we would be able to make better choices than 99 percent of the population of this country."

Elizabeth smiled in an almost imperceivable manner and waited for Jacob to continue.

"The author doesn't actually tell us how to form our government better. He merely showed us circumstances in which military veterans saved the world from chaos. It caught on and it worked. He wrote it himself - it isn't perfect but it works perfectly. It even works quite well against a society which is truly perfect - the Arachnids."

Elizabeth broke her poker face and grinned widely. It was all a game and Jacob knew it, obviously. She had no need to ask such questions because the answers were self-evident even to humans. However, she loved to have such discussions with Jacob. They were using them to reassure themselves that they were "on the same wavelength".

"By the way," remarked Jacob. "Do not ever discuss this book with Jarred. If he were to learn that Mobile Infantry never engages bugs without hermetically sealed power-armours, he would insist on getting one himself. We would never hear the end of it."

Elizabeth started to laugh. She found the whole anthill incident extremely humorous.


	6. Christmas Ghost

Christmas Ghost

 **AN:** _As you might know, JKR didn't plan the Fidelius charm entirely out in HP3 but kept adding to it later instead. As a result, its mechanics are a little bit blurry in places and not all of its rules are known (and confirmed as canonical by the books alone). A small amount of liberty is taken with it in this chapter._

"There's a theory that they actually ate all remaining dinosaurs after the meteor hit," spoke Smith as they walked. "Then they started fighting among themselves and dying of hunger. The only ones who survived were the ones capable of going into deep hibernation. The kind of dragons which we perceive as normal today, in other words."

"So the current dragon population is only a small fraction of what once was?" asked Carlisle. "Both in numbers and variety of sub-species?"

"And possibly even species. But yes, it's just like you've said."

"Well, such an extinction isn't so surprising. A survivability of a species isn't just in its strength but also in its capability to live in balance with its environment."

"Luckily for us. World would be quite different if the more aggressive kinds survived. I'm quite sure we wouldn't be able to keep them secret."

"There would be no humanity at all probably," uttered Carlisle.

Smith and Carlisle were visiting the only dragon colony in United States (the very one which Bella had mentioned when she had revealed the magical world to them). Carlisle wanted to see dragons and Smith wanted to see how was a dragon going to react to a vampire. They met with a keeper who led them to a prepared site where a young dragon was eating a goat. At the sight of it, Carlisle thought two things. One, it was a truly magnificent creature. Second, could it truly fly? Carlisle had trouble believing that. And yet, one's imagination simply begged to see such magnificence airborne! And come to think about it, it was no weirder than Fawkes's ability to lift heavy loads.

"They exude a most unusual, strong scent," remarked Carlisle. "It's like stepping into a distillery." The whole area was saturated with it, even though there weren't that many dragons there. Carlisle tried not to think about how a real colony would smell.

"Here we are," said their guide when they arrived. A few more keepers were in vicinity.

"What kind is that?" asked Smith.

"A hybrid. Half Welsh Green, half Hebridean Black," answered the guide.

There wasn't much time to discuss anything else because Carlisle's scent finally annoyed the dragon enough to interrupt his meal. He dug his claw in the ground and made a shallow groove. He dropped the rest of the carcass in it and sprinkled some dirt on top. Not that he was actually trying to protect the meat, he was merely signalling to the stupid humans that he wasn't finished with it. While he was doing that, his body temperature and hormone levels rose. Magical currents in him intensified but only a little because the dragon understood on some level that it was all merely a provocation. Finally he turned his attention to Carlisle and made a few steps toward him. The guide walked away.

"Peculiar, his reaction is a complete opposite of what a normal animal would do," observed Carlisle.

The dragon roared.

"That's because he isn't a prey," said Smith quickly. "In fact, I don't think he's an animal."

It seemed that the dragon was about to attack.

"Should I run?" asked Carlisle and knelt on one knee to display non-aggression.

"Rather not. He would pursue. Let's get out of here."

Smith grabbed Carlisle's arm and teleported away. The ground they were standing on become scorched a second later. The keepers had difficult time to calm the dragon down again.

* * *

Bella's British friends kept anticipating some kind of a move from the Romanian ancient vampire. It didn't come.

Carlisle and Esme visited Siobhan's coven and gave them a rough picture of recent events. The news of Aro's demise had reached them already but most of everything else was new for them. It was clear that they weren't a good material for military service but they agreed to stay in touch.

After much deliberation, Brits decided to do what the American government rejected - to turn a few volunteers into vampires. Jasper and Alice agreed to go to England and help with choosing and subsequent training. Hermione was able to read minds of the volunteers and interview them under a truth potion but Jasper could provide deeper insight into their psyche and Alice could look into their future. They didn't even need to reveal themselves for that.

The process of selection had many rounds and only when ten last candidates remained, they actually got to see Jasper and Alice in person. Hermione assembled the candidates for Jasper and Alice one evening. Most of them were soldiers but there were a few agents as well. Hermione and Jasper explained the situation in detail then.

"Let me make one thing clear," said Jasper afterwards. "It doesn't matter how strong or how good you are. What matters is what you've got here and, even more importantly, here." He tapped his temple first and then his chest. "I'm warning you - should you go nuts during your transformation, you will be destroyed. I advise you to leave if you aren't absolutely sure about this."

In the end, two people were selected and injected with venom. Eldridge offered to change them himself but Hermione wanted the vampires to be of youngest generation possible.

Jasper began to train the new vampires afterwards. They were joined by some of Eldridge's boys for that (Eldridge wanted his people to be prepared in case they were attacked). Jasper and Alice weren't going to return home for Christmas that year.

In the meantime, Carlisle and Edward tracked down Garret (an old acquittance of Carlisle's). After much deliberation, he agreed to join the Denali coven in their task. He didn't like authority but it seemed to him that the goal of Tanya's family was to defy exactly that.

Carlisle started to work only part-time at the Forks hospital and joined a magical medical research project. Their task was to use knowledge of healers to create new medicaments and medical procedures for non-magical world.

In La Push, Sam decided to stop phasing. He deliberated for a long time about that. He (along with the other wolves) had received an offer from the government to do vampire hunting on a paid basis. Alas, he believed that he would be more useful as a backup back home. Not to mention that he wanted to finally marry Emily. The leadership passed to Jarred.

* * *

Winter came and Christmas approached. Edward couldn't believe that it was only a year ago when Bella had given him the Tales of Beedle the Bard. Her remark to read from the book to his own kid one day had seemed to him like a cruel jab back then. And true enough, Elizabeth had all the tales memorized already.

Bella didn't like it but Edward managed to convince her to join the winter festivities that year. After all, it was going to be Elizabeth's first Christmas. Elizabeth was growing quickly and even started to tap into her magic though she had yet to manifest it outwardly.

Esme arranged with Andromeda for her and Teddy to stay with them for Christmas Eve. While their home was in La Push, Andromeda didn't wish to intrude on anybody else's evening. She didn't wish to spend Christmas alone with Teddy either and spending it with Bella's new family seemed a reasonable compromise. It was going to be first time for Bella to meet Teddy since her transformation.

That left Leah with a dilemma. She didn't wish to leave Teddy without a shape-shifter watching over him but she couldn't desert her family either. After all, it was better to cherish such moments of peace, considering all that was going to come.

That provided Jacob with an unique opportunity. Billy was going to have more than enough people at home that year which left Jacob free to spend Christmas Eve with his imprint. It didn't exactly exhilarate them but they agreed that having Jacob there was logical since he was going to be a family.

Another guest who couldn't possibly miss was Charlie, obviously. Despite the fact that he had no direct relation to Bella, he felt closer to her than ever before. He loved Elizabeth as if she was his own granddaughter and she liked him too.

And so all of these people found themselves in the Cullens' house at Christmas Eve. Esme called Jasper and Alice and both groups wished merry Christmas to each other. Bella had a bit of a problem with that.

 _"Come on!"_ thought Edward to her. _"It's Elizabeth's first Christmas."_

 _"I'm not a catholic!"_ she opposed.

 _"If you won't say merry Christmas, your aunt will use it as an excuse to nag at you."_

That finally convinced Bella. The whole conversation lasted only a split of a second.

"Merry Christmas," she said.

"Wow, that had to hurt," murmured Alice from the other side of the phone.

Jasper and Alice excused themselves after a a brief conversation. They had to get back to their newborns.

The evening carried on. Andromeda, Teddy, Jacob, and Charlie were the only ones who were eating. Elizabeth sampled a few things too but most of the food was still ingestible for her. Of course, Fawkes was present but pudding was the only human food he ate that evening. The dinner was prepared per English traditions by Bella and Andromeda so it was something new for Jacob and Charlie.

"What's with that bird?" whispered Bella to Edward.

"What's with him?"

"It seems to me like he's waiting for something. He keeps looking around in a suspicious manner."

Edward wanted to remind Bella that Fawkes was just a bird but he realized that it wasn't true. Fawkes wasn't just any bird. The other vampires started to observe him as well.

The dinner ended and Esme and Edward put the dishes away. Suddenly, Fawkes trilled to gain attention. Everybody turned to him. However, he just tossed his head towards a wall.

"What? What's there?" asked Charlie.

Bella, Edward, Elizabeth, and Jacob felt it first. Then the other vampires and Andromeda and Teddy. There was some kind of a ghost coming.

He floated in through the wall. Lights went out or dimmed and electronic appliances started to act out but not in the fried-by-magic way. Charlie felt something as well but he saw nothing.

"Harry?" exclaimed Bella.

He was fuzzy, as if he was one step from phasing out into the beyond. His legs were gone. The only part of him which was still recognizable was his face.

"Where have you been this whole time?" asked Bella. "We thought that you had moved on!"

Harry said something but nobody with the exception of Bella, Edward, Elizabeth, and Jacob could understand him.

"What? What is it?" inquired Bella.

Once again, only the four could understand the answer.

"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Edward. "When will it happen?"

Alas, there was no reply. Harry started to fade and disperse. Lights returned back to normal.

"What was that?!" asked Charlie.

"Harry Potter," answered Andromeda.

"A Christmas ghost bearing cryptic warnings about things to come," muttered Jacob. "Now this Christmas is complete. I can't wait to see Jared's reaction."

"You were able to hear him?" asked Carlisle. "I couldn't make out any words."

"Me neither," confirmed Emmett.

"I guess that explains why he sought us instead of Hermione," mused Bella. "She wouldn't be able to hear him. Edward and me are telepaths though."

A phone rang.

"That will be Alice," said Esme and picked it up. She was right.

"I don't get one thing," continued Bella. "How were you able to hear him, Jacob?"

"Hey! I'm a telepath too. In fact, Quileutes are supposed to be good at talking to spirits."

"Alice was able to detect the jamming even through Jacob and Elizabeth," informed them Esme.

"Maybe she should tell Hermione," proposed Edward.

Bella nodded and Edward quickly told Alice what happened.

"What did he say?" asked Andromeda impatiently.

"That he was wandering the planet, in preparation for his passing," inserted herself Elizabeth in her high soprano. "Then he told us that chaos was coming."

It was quite childish of her to emphasize that she too was able to hear Harry Potter. Teddy found her voice amusing. He chuckled and clapped his tiny hands together. His hair changed colour.

"Yeah, this year's Christmas have skipped all the way to the Ghost of Future Christmas," grumbled Jacob. "Who needs past and present Christmas anyway?"

"In previous Christmas, Bella was still human and none of this hectic chaos was happening," muttered Emmett under his breath.

"Wait a minute," protested Charlie. "Why would he come at Christmas? He could have come yesterday. Or tomorrow!"

"Then he would be a ghost of Christmas Day," observed Rosalie dryly.

"Well, most people connect all the magic with Christmas Eve," argued Edward.

"Maybe there's some magic in solstice?" mused Bella.

"But solstice won't be till next month," reminded her Esme.

Hermione got on a phone by that time. They had a teleconference but they agreed not to discuss such a sensitive matter in detail over phone. Edward sent a full transcript of Harry's words to Jasper in an encrypted e-mail.

In January, Jasper sent a message that he thought it would be best if Bella came to London. He planned for Alice and Bella to switch places, to be precise. He wrote that he, Hermione, and Bella needed to talk. Bella didn't know what was that about and she didn't like to be away from Elizabeth for long but she agreed.

A week later, Alice returned to the States by a Portkey given to her by Hermione. It was a return trip Portkey and Bella used it to teleport herself straight in Hermione's office. She, Bella, Jasper, and Ginny held a small secret meeting. Presence of Ginny was a slight surprise for Bella.

"Very well. Let's start by Harry's message," opened Jasper.

Bella recounted it, word by word. Hermione asked whether there were any details she would like to mention but Bella couldn't think of anything.

"What's this about?" asked Bella finally.

Hermione stood up and considered the best way to put it. She looked like someone who was about to ask a friend for a loan.

"How's your mind reading?" she asked finally.

"Excuse me?" retorted Bella.

"I was thinking about what Harry said," elaborated Hermione. "So far, we haven't registered any unusual problems with vampires. Just a homeless guy here, a street gangster there - the usual stuff. What is troubling us far more is a certain Death Eater terrorist cell which we believe have formed in our country."

Bella raised an eyebrow.

"They are careful and know how to lay low," continued Hermione. "I'm quite sure that they are preparing some kind of an attack. What we need is to crack down on them but our hands are no longer as free as they were right after the battle. There are all sorts of activist groups protecting rights of pure-blood wizards."

"You mean, like real activist groups? Like Greenpeace?"

"Yes. Neville is one of their leaders."

Bella blinked as she tried to imagine that.

"In short, we need to do something a little bit more covert," stated Jasper.

"We?" asked Bella.

"It isn't our turf, but we can't afford such wild-cards when there is an ancient vampire waiting for an opportunity to pounce on us."

"Not to mention that Harry could have been talking about this and not about vampires," theorized Ginny.

Bella asked Edward through her wristwatch what did he think about it all. He was hesitant but he agreed with Jasper that the matter needed their attention.

"Very well, what do you need me to do?" said Bella.

"To work with Ginny and a few others in an unofficial capacity and gather information," explained Hermione. "Once you are done, our people will strike. Officially. And collect all the credit, of course."

"And if we run into trouble with authorities?"

"Well, these people are wanted terrorists. It's not like they are going to call police."

After clearing a few more details, Hermione rubbed her hands and said, "And now, since you are here already, I could show you something just as well."

"That quantum computer of yours," uttered Bella dryly.

"Yes! How did you... Never mind. Follow me."

What Hermione showed to Bella in a secret and very expansive laboratory was a piece of most advanced and yet most useless technology (at least for the moment).

Bella met with Ginny later that day.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Well, we've been staking this wizard for some time. He is an older fellow, a former Ministry employee. He got dirty during the regime but we failed to convict him. He was on our radar ever since but his behaviour turned truly suspicious some time ago. We considered grabbing him, pumping him full of truth-serum, and learning all he knows."

"Let me guess. You don't think you can do that quickly enough. Not to mention analysis of the intelligence, forming a plan and implementing it."

"Exactly. Especially with idiots like Neville breathing down our necks. However, you can do all of that in a split of a second."

Bella nodded and concluded, "Well, let's do it."

A half an hour later, they were observing his cottage in countryside.

"He always apparates right in, or out," explained Ginny. "The area is warded but I guess he has some kind of an apparation point in there which is accessible only to him."

"What did you intend to do?" asked Bella.

"Well, we thought to disrupt the wards and storm the cottage. We would be able to take him before he escapes."

"I don't know. Who knows what kind of remote alarms would it set off and where. It would alert anybody he works for. I don't think that we need to take him at all."

"How so?"

"I went through your information about him. It seems like he's an incompetent nobody. I doubt that he actually participates on any actions and he probably doesn't posses any valuable intel."

"Yes, that's probably right," agreed Ginny. Then it clicked for her. "If he has no function, then his only function is to distract us!" she exclaimed.

"And to serve as something for Neville to work with, in case we make a mistake," added Bella. "Do you think he's in on this?"

"Who? Neville? I don't believe that."

Bella had to agree with Ginny - it didn't sound like him.

"I propose to just find out who his contact is and leave him alone," stated Bella.

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Well, I've got his scent now. Have you managed to triangulate his destination?"

"Yes. Diagon Alley."

"Then we'll do our thing there."

"Under noses of so many people?" protested Ginny.

"If I do it right, no one will notice anything."

They returned to London. An operative remained back at the site to observe the cottage. The wizard didn't leave it till next day.

Bella applied some make-up which she had brought. It concealed her vampire features. She also sprayed herself with a special perfume which neutralized her pheromones. It took her only a few seconds.

"Can you cast a notice-me-not charm on me?" she asked Ginny when she was done.

"You can't do that yourself?"

"No, not yet. Maybe I'll be able to do something like that in time."

Ginny did as she was asked. She couldn't apply the charm on Bella herself so she stuck the charm on her clothes instead. It worked just as well. Bella set out. There wasn't as many people in the street as she remembered. She spotted a few propaganda posters which agitated against the government. Another depicted a caricature of Hermione.

It didn't take long to find the wizard. He wasn't using Polyjuice potion but he didn't look like himself either. Probably some other kind of appearance altering potion or magic. It didn't matter, Bella was able to find him all the same. After observing him for some time, she became sure that his behaviour was just an act. He wasn't going to meet anybody for some inconspicuous handover of secret information.

As he was leaving Leaky Cauldron, Bella intercepted him. She met his eyes and initiated contact. She tried to tip-toe first but it became obvious quickly that she wasn't going to able to do it unnoticed. Bella swatted the wizard's shield aside and dove into his mind. Her suspicion was confirmed in a split of a second - the wizard wasn't doing anything useful for the Death Eaters.

Alas, the entire thing had to have a beginning. Bella searched deeper, looking for the person who recruited the wizard. She found it almost immediately. The recruiter was a fugitive Death Eater. They met through a contact in Knockturn Alley.

Bella had got what she wanted. It was almost two seconds and the wizard was about to defend himself. Bella erased the entire incident from his mind and left before he came back to his senses. She hoped that no passer-byes noticed anything.

Bella contacted Ginny and let her know of the switch of the target. Knockturn Alley was even more deserted than the main alley. Bella entered a dilapidated pub. It hosted only few patrons. The notice-me-not charm wasn't going to protect her for long in such a place.

Wasting no time, Bella approached the bar and locked eyes with the proprietor. He worked for Death Eaters but he knew nothing useful. There was only one useful thing in his mind - a way of contacting the Death Eater he worked with.

Bella made the barman sit down and fall asleep. She reached under the bar. There was a hidden compartment. Bella pried it open with her fingers and took out a small magical device. It was something like Hermione's club coins but much simpler. Bella activated it, signalling that the barkeep needed to meet the Death Eater.

The patrons took notice of Bella and found her suspicious. Bella attacked them with her mind, one by one. As they all returned to their seats and fell asleep, Bella relished the feeling of her own power. She wasn't able to teleport or turn forks into spoons but she still held significant might.

Ginny and two agents arrived to the pub. Bella told them that a new target was coming.

"Would you slow down a bit?" protested Ginny. "We need to tread carefully here."

"No, we need to ride this wave till we hit the shore," disagreed Bella. "Time for planning and deliberating is over."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think she made a reference to surfing," uttered one of the agents.

Ginny put all guests in a deeper sleep. They bound them, confiscated their wands, and moved them to a storage room. They left the barkeep where he was. Then the four of them sat down and pretended to be patrons.

It took about an hour before the Death Eater arrived. He had glamours but Bella saw straight through them. Her hand shot up and she seized the fugitive with telekinesis as soon as the door closed behind him. The agents grabbed him and Ginny searched him. She took his wand and an emergency Portkey. He had another important item on him - an amulet looking exactly like the Dark Mark.

Ginny pulled out her own Portkey. They took the barkeep and the Death Eater and the whole group teleported away. A clean-up team arrived to take care of the patrons.

"Very well, let's get to it," stated Bella when they had the Death Eater bound to a chair in a safe house.

She looked into his eyes an initiated the contact. The Death Eater had quite a solid shield.

"What do you think you are doing, beast?" sneered the Death Eater. "I'm a wizard, your mind tricks are powerless against me."

"You know, we have some truth serum here," remarked Ginny.

Bella ignored Ginny and retorted, "Unfortunately for you, I am no ordinary vampire."

She attacked his shield in earnest. The Death Eater resisted, jerking his head left and right. Foam started to form around his mouth.

"And here we go!" cried Bella out in victory. A trickle of blood was coming from the wizard's nose. He wasn't moving.

"You guys were right - there's a cell," informed Bella. "They have a safe place where they meet sometimes but it's under Fidelius. Luckily, this guy knows the guy who serves as the keeper and who can also activate these pendants." She pointed at the amulet on a table.

"So we are switching to yet another target," observed Ginny.

"For one last time - the guy we are after is from the inner circle. But we'll need a bit of help from our friend here this time around."

Bella approached the captured wizard. He was still unresponsive. Bella made a connection again. After a while, she unbound the prisoner and he stood up.

"What are you..." started Ginny but then she noticed that something was off about the wizard.

"I have control over him. Not exactly like Imperius but similar."

Bella shared everything she learned about the hideout of the keeper. He couldn't live inside the meeting place itself due to mechanics of the Fidelius charm but his abode was well warded (though still not too heavily to attract attention).

They equipped the wizard with a dart filled with a sleeping agent. The dart also served as a Portkey. Another Portkey was issued to the captured Death Eater to get there. Bella explained that he was unable to do any magic.

Ginny side-along apparated with Bella in vicinity of the keeper's hideout. They observed from distance as the enthralled Death Eater arrived and went inside. Luckily for Ginny and Bella, the keeper didn't notice that anything was wrong till it was too late.

"Well, what now?" asked Ginny when they had both wizards back at the safe house. It was actually more like a opening for a discussion.

"I can try to extract the secret from him," proposed Bella. She didn't know much about the Fidelius charm.

"That's not how it works. He must do it willingly."

"We'll see."

A minute later, Bella had to admit that even her old-new powers weren't able to do the job.

"We don't have time to torture him," observed Ginny.

Bella motioned for her to follow her. They adjourned to next room.

"OK, if I remember correctly, killing the keeper will just turn everybody who knows the secret into a keeper, right?" asked Bella.

"That's correct. We would need to kill the caster," replied Ginny.

"And that's something we can do. The caster lives inside the meeting place and we have somebody who can get there."

"And what if killing him will alert the others?"

"Then let's connect this plan with the official attack. We'll call for a meeting and you'll move your troops into position. When the ward goes down, you'll erect anti-teleportation wards and move in."

"How do you plan to kill the caster?"

Bella looked in the direction of the room where the prisoners were being held. She chuckled and said, "I have quite an entertaining idea." She explained it to Ginny.

"Can you give him a suicidal order?" asked Ginny.

"I think he's mostly dead inside anyway."

"Very well. I'll have somebody to prepare a Semtex vest. Now we just have to arrange for a false meeting call."

Ginny went back to the prisoners and approached the keeper. "My turn," she said and pulled out her wand. She cleared her throat and cast the Imperius curse.

"I can't do it," she complained two minutes later. "I guess I don't have enough practice with it."

Bella cleared her throat and said Ginny's name. Once she had her attention, she approached the table with the confiscated items and took some kind of a magical gadget.

"When do you want the meeting to take place?" she asked.

"Couldn't you say something earlier?"

"I wanted to see how are your unforgivable curses."

"My killing curse is just fine, thank you."

The meeting was scheduled for that night which gave Hermione enough time to prepare the operation.

"Are you going to join us in the assault?" asked Ginny when they arrived at the site.

"I would prefer to keep a low profile and remain unseen," refused Bella. "But you can give me a sniper rifle, I'll cover the others."

Bella was used to things not always going according to her plans and she didn't believe that her luck from the ambush of the Volturi guard would hold. She advised her friends to deploy a significant number of troops with rocket launchers and mortars - in case they would fail to end the Fidelius charm.

Her worry proved to be unbased. They heard an explosion first and then they all saw the building to appear in front of them. It looked like a non-assuming yet large one-story building. The actual meeting hall was in its basement.

They erected the wards and sent a volley of mortar rounds. Before the dust even settled, Bella spotted a wizard and exploded his head by her rifle. Other snipers and riflemen joined in, pinning the enemy down. Finally, assault squads led by wizards (mostly muggleborns) stormed the object.

"Wow, that's twice in a row," observed Bella when it was all over. The entire operation was quite a success - they captured a lot of marked wizards and killed a lot of unmarked ones.

"What is?" asked Hermione.

"Nothing went terribly wrong."

"The others will be even more careful now. We can forget about such large catches in the future. Lone wolves are going to operate on their own or in small groups, with minimal or no contact with anybody."

"Like nomadic vampires. We can handle that."

Bella returned to Jasper and inspected "his" newborns. Jasper was needed back in America and one of Eldridge's boys promised to keep an eye on the new vampires so Jasper and Bella boarded a plane a few days later and returned home.

It was shortly after they returned when Hermione sent them an encoded message concerning a piece of intelligence gained from one of the captured Death Eaters. Two higher ranking Death Eaters had left Britain sometime after the Battle of Hogwarts to search for the Romanian coven and had not bean heard of ever again.


	7. Chaos

Chaos

Jarred and Edward stood on a high rock in a desert in Texas. Jarred was in his wolf form which enabled him to relay Edward's info to his pack. It was a kind of a training for Jacob and other new members. They wanted to see whether the young ones were able to perform a strike on their own. Paul was in the field as well but he remained in the flanks, in case something went wrong.

Nothing did. Jacob led his friends to a ravine to which Edward had tracked a few "non-compliant" nomadic vampires. The wolves attacked from two sides. First group from upwind, second from downwind. It was over soon enough.

 _"Is that all of them?"_ asked Embry. _"I wouldn't want any angry mates to come after me."_

 _"Well, that's why we've got a helicopter here,"_ replied Jacob. _"No scent to follow."_

"Yes, it was all of them," said Edward out loud. "Bella searched their minds thoroughly when we scouted them yesterday."

Jarred started to limit his phasing afterwards, with intention to stop completely. He was still a leader de-facto but only because he didn't wish to create a situation in which people would have to decide whether Paul was fit for leadership. Paul was most senior and skipping him in favour of Jacob would be a little humiliating. The problem was that Paul still wasn't able to suppress his phasing. Andromeda proposed to put an end to it artificially (with potions) but nobody knew what kinds of side-effects would that have.

The Denalis established themselves not as leaders of vampires residing in North America but as mediators between them and the rest of the world (though they were rather vague about what the "rest of the world" meant). So far, there were no attacks on their family.

Jasper found Peter and Charlotte. He told them about the Denalis and inquired whether they would be interested in working with them. He could sense their reservations about such a thing so he didn't tell them too many details and most certainly not anything confidential. They told him that they would think about it and maybe visit them. Jasper called Eleazar and informed him.

"Reformation" of American magical world was almost at the end. Most communities, which weren't directly involved in recent changes, agreed to follow certain rules. One of those was a ban of memory erasing and alteration. In return, the government promised to increase protection of magical children who lived in mundane world.

A chance to prove that they meant it came soon enough. There was a case of a muggle-born boy who lived in a catholic orphanage. A nun noticed his accidental magic and attempted to "save him from the clutches of Satan". The government ensured that she wouldn't get away with a slap over wrist. A specifically instructed prosecutor handled the case and manipulated the nun into saying that she had done what she had done because she had believed that the boy had been magical. In the end, the woman was convicted not only of child abuse but it was also decreed that she was motivated by racism. The prosecutor reasoned that while magic did not exist, the nun believed that it did.

The case gained much attention and the verdict polarized society. Some (mostly atheists) believed that the nun was insane and belonged in a mental hospital rather than prison. Some Christians cried foul and called it an affront against their beliefs. Many wondered what was a reason for such an obvious witch hunt. Some believed that the courts took such a harsh action against a Christian orphanage because they wanted to create a politically correct precedent for possible future actions against other churches.

The Cullens didn't follow the case though. Those of them who weren't employed otherwise searched for traces of other dhampirs. Bella reasoned that it was highly improbable that Elizabeth was the only one on the whole planet. Alas, they had no luck. It was obvious that their resources alone were insufficient for such a task. At the same time, they were unwilling to disclose Elizabeth's existence to any outsiders.

Teddy's birthday approached. Bella wondered how was Andromeda going to tackle the matter. After spending Christmas together, Bella assumed that she was going to be involved in Teddy's birthday too. However, Andromeda didn't say anything and when Bella asked about it directly, Andromeda told her that she intended to keep it a small, quite affair - most probably only her, Teddy, and Leah, possibly Seth.

About the same time, Elizabeth started to manifest accidental magic, mostly telekinesis. Though "accidental" wasn't the right word because nothing ever happened without her intention. The proper word was "sporadic" because she was successful only sometimes. Edward discussed the matter with Bella. He wondered if it was healthy for Elizabeth to strain herself.

"Frankly speaking, I have no idea," told him Bella. "There was never a witch like her before, if you can call her that to begin with. What if leaving her gift unpractised will cause some kind of an atrophy? Don't worry though, she knows not to strain her limits."

They did talk to her later though to ensure the matter was clear.

The end of the school year arrived and Bella's old schoolmates graduated from Forks high school. That was when Angela visited Charlie and asked about Bella (she assumed that Bella returned home for summer). Charlie told her that Bella was out of town and that he would pass a word.

"Well? What are you going to do?" asked Edward.

"I see no reason not to meet her," answered Bella. "It's not like we live in constant fear of being discovered any more. I just need to mask the changes in my appearance."

Bella called Angela and told her that she was going to be in Forks that weekend. A lot of make-up work and contacts were needed to hide her new similarity to Edward. Nothing could hide the fact that she had changed though.

Bella and Edward met Angela at Charlie's. They greeted each other and Bella congratulated Angela (for her graduation). Angela was surprised by how different Bella was. Then she noticed the wedding rings on their hands.

"Are those...?" she asked.

"Yes, we got married a year ago," confirmed Bella. "Sorry about not telling you. We wanted to keep it a secret for a while."

Angela congratulated them and started to ask questions about what was married life like. An hour later, she became curious about what Bella and Edward were doing lately. They evaded her questions and soon, they excused themselves, claiming that they had other errands.

"Could you imagine how would she take it if she knew even a half of it?" wondered Bella later.

Teddy had his first occurrence of accidental magic a few weeks later. He pulled a toy which was out of his reach. Leah asked Andromeda whether that didn't warrant some kind of a small celebration. She meant it as a joke mostly but Andromeda reacted rather sternly. She said that Teddy just had one party and that he wasn't getting another one until next year.

Elizabeth's first birthday came. Bella had a dilemma how to approach the matter and had a long discussion with Edward about it. The question was, should they invite Andromeda and Teddy? They utilised Jacob's help to resolve that. He stopped by and causally mentioned the matter. Andromeda's response was negative.

In the light of that, they decided not to make it a big affair. Apart from the obvious participants (the Cullens, Charlie, and Jacob), only Billy joined in. And Fawkes, of course. Jacob tried to use the opportunity to communicate with the phoenix but it seemed that the bird wasn't interested in a conversation.

When September arrived, they started to wonder when was the time of chaos that Harry had promised going to come. They didn't have to wait long. It happened on eleventh. The date was significant but it wasn't the kind of significance anybody thought to be wary of.

Nor Alice neither the people on the Romanian case were watching for something like it. As a result, they were all taken by surprise when it started. By the time Alice saw anything, the first attack was carried out already. A plane crashed into the north tower of World Trade Center and another flight was hijacked.

Alice and Jasper were at the Pentagon at the moment. As soon as Alice got over her initial shock, they informed the right people. Despite that, the command structure of the "conventional" forces of USA was rather paralysed for the moment, partly because the president was momentarily unavailable. Thanks to the inaction of authorities, yet another plane was hijacked before the crew could be warned. At least hijacking of the fourth (and last) plane was still far away. The pilots were warned and ordered to land immediately.

Every minute mattered and fortunately, the "unconventional" forces quickly decided not to consider the matter none of their business. They started to form plans how to save or neutralize the remaining two flights. In the meantime, Jasper called Bella and told her to send Fawkes. She told him that the bird wasn't home. Jasper wasn't surprised - the phoenix didn't like to expose himself. He preferred a role of a spectator, watching the history unfold, giving only little nudges here and there.

Second attack (on the south tower) was going to happen any minute. There was no time to save the plane - something more radical had to be done. They obtained cell numbers of two passengers and there were two F15s in the area. They managed to gain command over the fighters. They informed the pilots about what had happened and ordered them to intercept the second plane. They guided them in such way so they would see the World Trade Center and the damage on it. Then they called the passengers from the hijacked plane.

The passengers didn't want to believe what was happening at first. They were in shock and reluctant to take any action. They changed their minds when one of the engines was blown up by a missile. The piloting terrorists lost control for a while and veered of course. When they levelled, a chaotic fight between the passengers and their comrades back in the cabin ensued. The plane crashed in suburban area.

Alas, Jasper and the others had no time to follow those events. They still had to deal with the plane which was going to hit the very building they were in at the moment.

"We can't afford to shoot down another civilian flight," insisted some general.

"I could be dropped on the plane," proposed Jasper. "But I can't just tear my way inside at that height and speed. Do you have some other way of getting me in?"

Smith (who had arrived earlier) tugged at his lower lip and answered, "There's a guy who can create short range Portkeys. You just point it and it moves you an exact distance in that direction. Let's say two meters. But it will interfere with the electronics."

"That's better than a hole in a hull. Now we just need a jet fast enough."

"That will be a problem," argued an official. "After the stunt we've just pulled in New York, we might not be able to commandeer another bird quickly enough. Especially since we need it to take the cargo and take off first." The cargo meant Jasper.

"There might be an option," said Smith slowly. "We are developing a new kind of a fighter jet with our British friends. We mean to utilize it against vampires, should the Romanians attack. We have an unmanned model which we use in our research. If this prediction of the route of Flight 77 is correct, then the model is housed at a position from which it can easily catch up."

"And how is a mere model going to be able to carry me?" asked Jasper.

"Not you. Me," corrected Alice.

"Now wait a minute," protested Jasper. After all, there was a certain danger even for a vampire.

"Only I can predict all those air currents up there," insisted Alice.

"That's right," admitted Smith. "Moreover, we'll need you to control the model. You can fly a jet, am I correct?"

Smith took Jasper and Alice to the hangar (and the control station) while another wizard went to collect the Portkey maker. They rigged a container so it would be possible to open it from inside. Alice put on a wing-suit and they stowed her inside a container. It was a tight fit but she didn't need to be comfortable. A greater problem was the weight - they were testing the limits of the model. They attached the container under the model and Jasper took off with it.

He led it on an intercept course. In the meantime, the others wondered whether to contact the passengers of the hijacked plane through their cellphones. By the time the model arrived near the plane, the rest of the military became fully aware of the situation and came out of its stupefied state. The president became available again finally and started to give orders. The Pentagon ordered a squadron to get between Flight 77 and the building. Jasper hoped that they weren't going to blow the Boeing up unless Alice failed to get on board.

Alice opened the container and dropped into the open air. A gust of wind shifted her sideways but she had expected that. At that speed, it wasn't easy to navigate even with her vision though. The plane wasn't below her yet bet it seemed that it was going to pass under her before she would reach its altitude.

Alice shifted in the air and went into a head-first dive to compensate. More air currents. When she (and her vision) stabilized again, she saw that she was going to end up near the Boeing. She needed to get next to its lower half.

Just before the plane reached her, she levelled out and her fall slowed down. Her horizontal speed was obviously much lower than that of the Boeing and it shot past her. She narrowly missed a wing. Then she was under the plane. It was her last chance. She twisted, pointed the device at the belly of the plane and activated it.

Alice appeared in the cargo area. The luggage around the point was thrown aside. Luckily, she didn't appear anywhere near the structure of the plane. The Portkey did not equalize her velocity and she shot toward the tail immediately. Because she was also going down, she hit the floor first. She rammed into more luggage and finally latched onto a strut. It groaned and the pilots felt a slight bump, like from a gust of wind.

Alice stood up and inspected the damage. It didn't look good but Alice's vision told her that the hull around was going to hold. She put on a mask she had brought and set out to the stairway ladder which would get her to the upper deck. Jasper and Smith contacted Pentagon and informed them that the infiltration was successful.

All the passengers and staff were in the rear area of the plane. Four terrorists were in front and two more in the cockpit. Alice slipped into the middle area without being seen by the passengers.

There were two terrorists guarding the passage forward. They were armed by knives and make-shift maces. Alice briefly considered slipping past them but that would mean risking the safety of the passengers. A few seconds later, both hijackers were lying on the floor, dead. No one said that it was going to be a pleasant business. Strands of future in her vision simplified.

She reached the business area. There were two more terrorists ahead. One of them was standing by the bar. He was extremely nervous. His scent was full of fear and panic. He looked around, the other hijacker was in another compartment and unable to see him. Alice hesitated, curious about the little unfolding drama.

The nervous terrorist grabbed a bottle of bourbon and took a swig. He sputtered - he had not tasted booze since he had been a teenager. Due to his distraction, he was taken by surprise when the other terrorist walked in on him. The other one barked an angry question and the nervous one was stumped for a moment.

Alice used their moment of distraction and crept up to them, using the bar as a cover. She grabbed a bottle and smashed it on the head of a hijacker who had his back turned to her. She killed the other one. She wanted to restrain the unconscious one but then she saw a vision of angry passengers beating him to death. She sighed, grabbed his head, and twisted. She could imagine Bella sneering at her.

The door to the cockpit flew open. Alice killed the copilot first and then lifted the pilot from his seat before he could react. Leaving them alive wasn't an option - they saw too much. All six hijackers were dead. The plane dipped and Alice levelled it out quickly and switched the autopilot on. She changed the frequency on the radio and reported that the plane was under her control.

The locking mechanism of the door was destroyed. Before Alice sat down in the pilot's seat, she grabbed a string and fixated the door as best as she could. Then she switched the autopilot off and changed course to the nearest airport.

She also contacted Pentagon and patched it into the internal comm system. Some colonel informed the passengers that they were safe and instructed them not to venture past the business class and not to try to approach the cockpit and see their saviours who wished to remain anonymous.

Alice landed without a hitch and Jasper arrived in a car with tinted windows to pick her up. Neither of them were seen during the extraction. Emergency teams arrived right after they left to take care of the passengers.

To say that the entire event had a tremendous response from media and the citizens of United States would be an understatement. One thing became public very soon: The attacks were organized in the name of Islam. The loss of human lives in the upper levels of the north tower of The World Trade Center and in the two passenger flights were mourned by all American citizens without regard to race or social standing. On the other hand, the fact that only one attack was carried out successfully while three more were foiled by the bravery of average American citizens stroked the ego of the nation immensely. That had an obvious effect on the public opinion: strike back right away, strike hard.

The government tried to stoke the flames by leaking a false information that the attack on Pentagon was actually foiled by an Israeli businessman and his wife (both ex-military) who wished to remain anonymous. It didn't work too well - the American public still wanted revenge and the government knew it.

Right from the beginning, the president wanted to blame the whole thing on Iraq. After all, Iraq was a very popular, convenient, and lucrative target. Alas, all the evidence pointed to Afghan al-Qaeda. That was bad news. There was bad terrain and the American propaganda sunk a large amount of money in previous few decades into publishing the old secret that it was the Americans who saved Afghanistan from Soviets.

As a result, the president was quite amenable when Bella proposed an alternative to an open war. She and Smith visited him at Camp David one weekend. It was first time the president met a vampire and he was somewhat nervous. Bella rehashed what they knew so far and told him about Potter's visit in greater detail.

"I have a feeling that this is some kind of a diversion manoeuvre," she divulged. "But even if I'm wrong and this has nothing to do with the Romanians, there's really no point in sending a lot of young boys into those mountains."

"We need to respond to the attack," insisted the president. "It's a political necessity."

"I agree," nodded Bella. "And I have an idea which will send a much stronger message than an open war."

"Are you talking about assassination?"

"Better. We'll fetch this Osama bin Laden for you. And when I'm at it, I'll search his mind thoroughly. We can bring you a few of his associates as well and kill as many others as possible."

Smith cleared his throat and continued, "You'll be able to prosecute him right here. No Haag, no lawyers. And no public trial, of course. All the other countries with the exception of Britain will call you arrogant though."

"I have no problem with that," bristled the president.

"And there's also the fact that this won't change the situation in Afghanistan much," added Smith.

"I know. But if you truly manage to pull this off, it will send a message: If you attack us, we can arrest you anywhere and any time."

"Not to mention that we have much bigger problems to worry about."

They discussed the matter further for about an hour at which point the president deemed that he heard enough.

"So, how exactly are we going to do it?" asked Smith as they were leaving.

"Vampires only, I think. The less, the better," answered Bella. "Just give us a couple of those slingshot Portkeys, in case it's a trap."

Carlisle and Esme took the news that the operation received green light neutrally. They didn't feel that their family should involve itself in non-magical politics but Jasper was quite convinced that a war on other side of the world was ill advised at the moment.

It was only Bella and Edward who went to Afghanistan (though Smith and a team of soldiers were prepared as a backup). Alice was watching over the whole operation from home. Bella planned for many contingencies but the operation proved quite straightforward in the end. They tracked their target using their gifts and then simply collected him and his associates. There were no vampires or wizards waiting for them.

Bella tranquillized their main target by a dart so he never knew how he was captured. While Edward was getting the prisoners away, Bella poisoned a local water supply. That didn't make Edward happy but Bella wanted to send a message even though she wasn't as enthusiastic about the "conflict" as some others.

After their return, Bella briefed all her associates about her findings and then she and Smith met the president again. Just like before, Jasper wasn't with them. Smith didn't want to make the president feel uncomfortable by having multiple vampires in his presence.

"Very well," started Bella. "Before you announce this to public and before we discuss this in a wider circle, there are two things I've learned from Osama's mind which I would like to share with you."

"Well?" asked the president.

"The author of the whole idea was a certain high imam of a certain country. Now, I know that this conversation is being recorded, so I'm not going to say it loud. This information must never become public."

"Why?"

Bella leaned forward and showed him a piece of paper. She reminded him not to say what was written there.

"Are you sure about this?" asked the president. "The relations between al-Qaeda and that country are complicated but they most certainly do not cooperate on such a high level."

"Quite," agreed Smith. "It doesn't make any sense which makes me believe that we were supposed to find out about this. After all, if the Romanian coven managed to turn somebody like Osama into their puppet, manipulating some old foolish man would be easy for them. And us, in extension. Going into war in that region right now would be ill advised. Not because it costs money but because it costs resources. Somebody doesn't want us to develop better weapons and those vampire-detection satellites."

The president rubbed the bridge of his nose and promised to keep the information for himself.

"The second matter is not about what is in our prisoner's mind but about what isn't there," continued Bella. "Throughout the preparation of the entire operation, there was an unknown person by his side at all times."

"What do you mean unknown? Not previously encountered or erased from his memory?"

"Erasing would be sloppy. You wouldn't need me to discover that, any skilful wizard would notice errors in the pattern. This information wasn't erased form his mind, it was never there. Luckily, I'm no ordinary mind reader."

"We are talking about a notice-me-not charm or something similar to it," clarified Smith. "That means that it could have been a wizard, a mundane wearing an amulet, or a vampire with such an ability."

"Definitely a vampire," stated Bella. "That person never slept, ate, or urinated. On the other hand, two people disappeared mysteriously."

"Only two?" asked the president.

"That were known of. But yes, it's quite a low number. We aren't talking about just any vampire here."

They concluded the meeting on a note that they shouldn't do anything rash. After all, they already had their scapegoat.

There was a wider meeting later that week. Some of the generals didn't like the idea of "letting it go" but most agreed to concentrate their efforts on more pressing matters.

Rumours of disappearance of the leader of al-Qaeda reached USA even before the news of his capture was officially released. The reactions from public were colourful, as expected. Many Americans pridefully folded their arms and said, "Yep, that's US special forces for you." Conspiracy theorists claimed that Osama was merely a scapegoat and pointed at his distinguished career as a partisan during the Cold War. Alas, he had been a known terrorist long before the attacks.

There was a trial, of course. Thanks to the nature of his capture (he had never seen any vampires), media representatives were allowed to witness it. The entire case created much controversy.

While Edward and Bella had been in Afghanistan, an investigation had been started to determine how were the terrorist able to pull their stunt off in the first place. The findings were dumbfounding. It was determined that security forces could have arrested the hijackers if they had not been sabotaged by people from above. Some of those people were in highest levels of command.

Further investigation revealed that many of the conspirators acted out of their free will. Some of them were involved with Osama during the Cold War, some had other reasons. All of them were taking orders from various undemocratic forces working from background. This trail of corruption led all the way up and touched even the president himself. It was agreed to deal with these people quietly and never let such a thing go public. As for the president, his term was coming to an end anyway.

The fact remained that even these people were stumped by the results of their "conspiracy". There was a second level to the whole thing, one somewhat more troubling. It was discovered that some people at the right places were manipulated with magic. With Bella's help, experts on mind arts determined that it wasn't done by wizards. Some subjects were affected by potions but two of them were affected by a power of a vampire. Possibly an ancient one. It had been done a long time before the attacks, when the cooperation between wizards and the government was only in its beginnings.

In the meantime, a report concerning hate crimes motivated by the hijackings reached the presidential office. Luckily, there wasn't as many of them as one might have expected - mostly thanks to the fact that most attacks were foiled. Considering that a dramatical abatement of those crimes due to Osama's capture was expected, it was agreed not to blow it out of proportion in the media and wait for newer data.

Alas, the situation wasn't as simple in Britain. It started with an innocently looking report that Pakistani immigrants were disappearing without a trace. It was quite a small number and it wouldn't be even noticed on a higher level if the government wasn't on a lookout for such things already.

The things became interesting when the investigation uncovered signs of vampire involvement. Corresponding people took over the case. Hermione told the PM that she was quite convinced that it was a subversive work of vampires affiliated with the Romanian ancient. He ordered her to put an end to it and destroy any vampires involved.

When Hermione returned to the PM more than a week later, she was quite distraught.

"We have a problem," she stated. "It's big. As big as the Voldemort crisis a year ago."

The PM started to imagine a large scale vampire insurgency immediately.

"There are no Romanian agents out there," continued Hermione. "In fact, no vampire did anything wrong in this case."

"What are you talking about? Somebody is trying to make it look like vampire attacks?"

"No, those missing people were eaten by vampires indeed. However, all of them were allowed targets. In fact, you could say that the vampires involved are doing Britain a great service. And that's where the problem starts."

"Allowed targets? How do you mean that?"

Hermione sat down, sighed, and continued, "I'm not sure where to start and don't tell me to try the beginning because there isn't one. I'll try it like this: Imagine an average Death Eater. Middle class, not a bad ancestry, passable manners, average magical power or better. Of course, such a person also has an over-bloated ego, staggering feeling of superiority, and strong homicidal tendencies. Sort of like a Nazi, if you wish. Now, remove that magical power and replace it with frustration."

The PM raised an eyebrow. He still didn't understand but he didn't interrupt Hermione.

"What I'm talking about is happening around the entire country but I'll give you one tiny example from Rotherham. A twelve year old girl from a lower middle class family was kidnapped three weeks ago. Grabbed from a street when she was returning from school. Her father tracked her to a Pakistani kebab shop thanks to some people who saw her. He wanted to rescue her from the basement but the owners called police on him. They arrested him for breaking and entering."

"I don't understand," commented the PM. "Why didn't the father call police himself?"

"Because he knew that it wouldn't help. The kidnappers would deny everything and his daughter would get arrested for under age drinking, possession of drugs, prostitution, or something like that. Moreover, it wouldn't be politically correct - he would be accused of racism and religious hatred. It didn't matter though because the girl was dead by that time anyway. However, the incompetence of the involved police officers gave the kidnappers enough time to get rid of the body. Can you guess how have they done it?"

"No?" replied the PM, unsure whether he wanted to know the answer.

"The kebabs."

"What a hell?! What do you mean by that?"

"It means exactly what you think it means."

"This is terrible! Two of my children like kebab."

"Well, than your children might be cannibals, because this has been happening for years. And every year, approximately ten thousand of young girls and boys get raped or worse. All of that is possible because of misplaced political correctness. Or maybe because of the fact that most victims belonged to lower classes till recently. Are you starting to see why have I claimed that this is huge? Anyway, two vampires learned about the incident and made a meal of the culprits. And that's where we need to get involved."

The PM leaned back in his chair and commented, "Vampires can't just run around and feed on immigrants. The tensions among people are high enough because of terrorism."

"Well, we have an unwritten agreement with them that they can prey on our trash. We can't go back on our word. In fact, they are waiting for just that. They want to see if we can be trusted."

"And how am I supposed to explain all those disappearances?"

"Turf war."

"Turf war?"

"Yes. Between various slave-trafficking gangs."

The PM thought about Hermione's suggestion and agreed that the idea had merit.

When the entire matter became public, it raised some minor reactions. It was rather disappointing, because many Brits simply waved the child abuse off as "part of street life". If it wasn't for recent hijackings and subsequent development, people would ignore it completely.

That changed when the alleged "turf war" became more visible. It happened because Hermione and her co-workers forgot one small detail: with so many afflicted children, statistical probability of a muggle-born getting involved was rather high.

The inevitable happened about a week after the press release. A small orphan boy was kidnapped for unknown reasons. Maybe he knew something and wanted to use the new political climate and report it. Only two things were sure: he was magical and suffered unspeakable torment at the hands of his captors. Somehow, he managed to focus his magic and hatred to cause a fiery detonation which killed the criminals (and himself), destroyed the house and damaged neighbouring ones. That was a pity because, judging by the power of the explosion, the boy could have been a new Harry Potter (or Tom Riddle, for that matter).

People were outraged. They cried, "We've got a turf war here? No, not in Britain!" There was a big interview with the Chief constable in television. He knew about magic and vampires and was well prepared.

The moderator started by relaying the accusation of the public - how could the police possibly allow such a thing to continue.

"You need to realise that these are very proud people," started the chief. "They are hard and self-reliant and don't want any kind of external interference. What you call a turf war is a matter of honour for them. Imagine that you would have an argument with a colleague and suddenly, police would barge in and started arresting people. That's the reason why we made no progress in stopping these feuds. We've arrested some of the survivors of these fights and tried to cooperate with them. We've offered them witness protection, immunity, even money. None of that helped, they simply refuse to talk, even out of record and not even against their enemies. As a result, all we can hope to do is to prevent innocent people from getting caught in a crossfire."

The moderator tried to dispute his point of view but the chief constable merely reiterated that they were dealing with an entirely different culture.

While the vampires were doing their bloody work, Neville Longbottom used the situation to advocate his agenda. He claimed that the whole child abuse scandal was a proof of the wretchedness of muggles. He did not care one bit that those crimes weren't committed by British citizens. His rhetoric went even as far as claiming that the fall of the ministry was detrimental to all those muggle-born children caught in that evil, twisted, muggle world. Once again, he completely ignored counterexamples of Tom Riddle and Harry Potter.

"We need to do something about Neville," told Hermione to Ginny one day. "His activities really aren't helping." She tossed her a pamphlet published by him.

"You mean to get rid of him?" asked Ginny.

"Not yet. The best option would be tell him the truth and make him cooperate. Unfortunately, he's quite stubborn."

"Well, he was always kind of intimidated by Bella. Maybe if she talked to him..."

"No. We can't ask her for help every time we run into trouble. Plus, I think that she has something going on in the States which makes her reluctant to leave."

"So what do we do? Talk to him ourselves? He won't even agree to meet us."

"What about Eldridge?" proposed Hermione. "You know, warning about an ancient vampire coming from a semi-ancient one..."

"Eldridge discredited himself in all those trials."

"Well, there's one more option."

"And that is?"

"He always had a sweet spot for you."

"You have to be kidding!"

* * *

Carlisle put a newspaper down. There was yet another terrorist attack somewhere in Middle East. It was improbable that the Romanians had anything to do with it. Nonetheless, it felt like they were positioning pawns in some kind of a grand game of chess.

"Luckily, there are so many dictators who keep the region stable," told Bella to Carlisle. She knew what he had been reading.

"I bet that someone said the same about Hitler just before the Second World War," remarked Carlisle. Still, he had to admit that the idea of Middle East without Saddam, Assad, and others was rather frightening.

"Now, now. Hitler was under Grindelwald's influence. The situation is exactly the opposite now - wizards over there are protecting the dictators from any supernatural influence."

Bella went back to reviewing Hermione's design of a drone controlled by a quantum entanglement module rather than a conventional radio-signal. She was no longer able to craft quantum devices but she was still quite knowledgeable in the area. It was a first step to creating of a magical satellite. It could also lead to a new technology suitable for fighting vampires (and terrorism).

Carlisle picked his newspaper up again and turned a page. There was a poll of presidential candidates. The candidate backed by Smith and his colleagues was among the leaders of the poll. Carlisle wasn't sure how to feel about wizards backing their own candidate but it certainly wasn't any worse than other candidates being backed by oligarchs. Moreover, there was no denying that it was nice that a third party candidate was going to win.

One question remained on their minds. Had the danger of the chaos promised by Harry Potter been averted by their actions or had he been talking about something else, something unavoidable?


	8. New Age

New Age

"Perfect score!" squealed Elizabeth and removed an empty magazine from a .22 LR rifle she was using. She opened its bolt and ejected an empty case.

"That's hardly a noteworthy accomplishment for you," commented Bella.

She was right. While all the hits formed one small hole in the middle of the target, such a result was considered passable even for humans with that kind of a weapon.

"Perhaps a longer distance or..." started Elizabeth and trailed off as her eyes made out a black dot on the sky in distance.

Bella turned around and saw that it was a bird.

"Do you see that sparrow?" she asked after a moment. The bird was headed their way.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Well, shoot it down and you can eat it."

Elizabeth put three cartridges in the magazine quickly and inserted the magazine back in the well. She looked around and re-checked the breeze direction. The bird was approaching. Elizabeth loaded a bullet, took aim, and squeezed. The bird jerked but continued in its flight.

"Shoot again," commanded Bella after a second of Elizabeth's inaction.

The little girl gripped the bolt and tried to load. In her haste, she didn't keep her superhuman muscles in check and the cartridge jammed (which was quite a feat because the feeding mechanism was meant to be handled with speed and force).

"Stop!" commanded Bella. "Do nothing." She didn't like the sound the casing of the cartridge made.

Bella took the rifle, released the magazine and let the cartridge fall out. True enough, it was bent slightly.

"I'm sure I hit the bird," insisted Elizabeth.

"That you did. But it wasn't a clean shot. The bird is going to fly for a couple more miles before dying. Maybe it will manage to land but will be crippled for the rest of its short life."

Elizabeth turned to pursue but her mother barked at her, "Stand where you are! Did you intend to go after it?"

"Yes."

"In this time and day, we can't go running around the woods without reporting it at least."

Elizabeth looked up at her mother suspiciously and asked, "Is this some kind of a lesson to teach me that my mistakes have consequences? Because, you know, I planned to pick that bird clean anyway so I don't think it's going to work."

"No, Elizabeth, it's a common sense. Now, what do we do with damaged ammunition?"

"Bring it to cops or disassemble it safely ourselves."

"Correct. Now, I'm a vampire so I'm going to be a little unorthodox. Don't try this on your own just yet."

Elizabeth opted not to remind her mother that it was just .22 LR. Bella pinched the tip of the bullet between her fingers and pulled at the casing with her other hand. The bullet came out and Bella spilled the gunpowder on the ground. She put the casing and the bullet in her pocket.

"Well, let's go home. We need to check the feeding mechanism for damage."

* * *

The year 2001 was nearing its end. Alas, there was one last thing to do before Christmas - to test a new drone control technology.

The idea was based on the technology which Bella had reviewed for Hermione. It was similar in principle to Bella's and Edward's wristwatches. The quantum entanglement connection was used to relay thoughts of a pilot to a drone. The biggest challenge was to interface the quantum module on a drone with its controls and sensors. They didn't test the technology on drones just yet but on RC model cars (though somewhat oversized ones).

The initial tests proved to be promising but only certain muggles were able to use it while majority of wizards who tried it had no problems. The device was completely unusable by vampires which was a shame. The problem was that while some vampires (like Bella) were able to mentally connect with the quantum device, the system didn't understand their commands. Bella also had an idea to try it with the wolves and they proved to have a natural talent. Unfortunately, there were no pilots among them.

Alas, Hermione planned to take the whole thing much further. In her dreams, she envisioned a drone with VI subsystems which would take care of flight functions. A human (or humanoid) operator would merely command the drone rather than pilot it. That would allow the operator to focus solely on his/her mission. Alas, that wasn't a priority yet.

Another idea she had was to combine the technology with the new fighter jet that Jasper had used to deliver Alice to the hijacked plane. With a quantum entanglement connection, not only there was no need for a pilot to actually be in the jet but such a plane could operate anywhere in the world (or universe for that matter) without worrying about radio connection. The absence of a pilot also allowed for a different construction and manoeuvres which would make a pilot pass out.

Hermione's idea required converting all electronic systems of the plane into magical and quantum ones. Hence, the project split into two. One continued in its original course - a completely mundane fighter jet with a pilot. The other one was approved and works began.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve again. Jasper and Alice were present this time around. On the other hand, Andromeda and Teddy were in La Push (with the Clearwaters). Jacob had visited earlier that day but he too was in La Push. The only non-vampires there were Charlie and Elizabeth. And Fawkes, of course.

"So, are there going to be any unexpected visits from beyond the grave?" asked Charlie.

"Jeez, wasn't the last visit enough?" exclaimed Emmett. "The world is bursting at its seams from all the tension already. Another year like that and it's going to explode!"

"The world was always like that," argued Carlisle. "More or less. Not constantly, I admit. Also, the situation is much calmer now than it was, let's say, during World War 2."

Esme asked them not to discuss such things that evening.

When it was time for a toast, Carlisle poured from a metal flask some kind of yellowish liquid for the vampires.

"What is it?" asked Emmett uneasily.

"Something we are testing for NASA," explained Carlisle. "It could be used as a sustenance for space-faring vampires. It's completely inorganic. It doesn't taste well but it contains all the essential substances and it quells thirst significantly. It can't replace blood completely yet but we'll get there."

They watched the Queen Elizabeth's Christmas speech next day. Unsurprisingly, it was about terrorism and importance of not being intimidated. Bella wasn't sure whether such an "encouragement" wouldn't rather piss her off if she was an ordinary citizen but there were some results to show at least.

* * *

Peter and Charlotte finally "found time" to visit Denali. Eleazar told them a little bit more about what was happening in the world.

After much consideration, they agreed to loosely cooperate with the Denalis. Joining them wasn't really an option. Due to their experience with Maria, they were wary of joining anything bigger than themselves. What they were offering was good enough anyway. They offered to function as eyes and ears for them, to collect rumours, and to bring them information of unusual movements of vampires.

* * *

Against all odds, cooperation between wizards and mundanes both in UK and USA continued well. Cooperation, not coexistence. That was a whole another level. All societies and sub-societies existed in parallel, meeting only at certain points such as military or research. Overall, it seemed that there was enough will in people to make the whole thing work. Maybe they began to realize that the whole humankind would be in quite a trouble if it didn't work.

There were exceptions, of course. There were cases when people attempted to exploit their positions for their own profit. For example, some bureaucrat attempted to steal results of a research in which Carlisle was involved in and sell it to pharmaceutical corporations. That was nothing unexpected though.

Luckily, such shady activities were becoming increasingly difficult because they had no support from above. There was a new president - third party and unconnected to any pre-existing (mundane) power structures. Once again, Carlisle wasn't sure whether it was such a good idea for American wizards to be able to push in their own candidate. After all, it was the exact opposite of what had happened in Britain and Carlisle wasn't sure how was it going to end.

Another problem were remnants of Death Eaters. There weren't many true ones left and after the events of previous year, they were keeping lower profile than ever. Both American and British agents were trying to determine the nature and extent of their connection to the Romanian coven.

Most European countries managed to establish a dialogue with their magical communities over past two years. Alas, the situation varied from country to country.

Situation in France was slightly chaotic. Most pure-blood wizards there refused any notion of cooperating with the government. At the same time, the problems the government had with their non-native citizens increased. French wizards sneered at that.

German wizards were most opposed to any kind of mixing of magic with technology. After all, they still remembered Grindelwald.

Wizards from Romania and surrounding countries were rather reclusive. They were warned that the Romanian coven was at large again. Romanian wizards were thus busy securing their world from vampires. They even went as far as confronting their dragons with captured vampires to see how would the dragons do against them.

Over it all, there was one stabilizing force - goblins. They lived and operated all over the world, functioning as a glue between all parts of the mosaic created by events following Voldemort's demise. Some people even said that they were profiting heavily from the entire situation. Not just money-wise. Their sudden increase in "social standing" was even more important to them. And the situation wasn't ideal for any humans asking questions such as "Is this going to bite us later?"

* * *

"Goblins," said Bella suddenly.

Edward peeked out from the bathroom and asked, "What was that?" Of course, it was just a rhetorical question. He heard her perfectly.

Bella turned a blow drier off and repeated, "Goblins. I can't believe it didn't occur to me earlier. I mean, it did. And not just to me, I'm sure."

"I'm not sure I'm following you."

"Look. If you were the creator of the Romanian coven and you wanted to throw the entire world in absolute chaos, what would you do?"

"Well, I would normally say that I would turn various nations against each other but I think that you want me to say that I would somehow hit goblins."

"Exactly."

"There's one problem with that - anybody who would have the power to destroy goblins would also have power to wipe humanity out."

"He doesn't want to wipe humanity out. Vampires need humans. While goblins taste just as good as humans, they don't represent a source of new soldiers. Still, you are right. He can't possibly kill all goblins around the world. Maybe he has other plans."

Jasper and Bella attended a small meeting that month. There was Smith, two military officers, and two goblins. Bella brought her idea up.

"Excuse me, we've been expecting that for some time now," scoffed one of the goblins.

"Yes, I know that you are prepared for an attack," replied Bella. "But frankly, what would an ordinary attack accomplish? He can't even hope to create chaos in your society, like he has done in 9/11 in the non-magical world. So, it must be something else he's planning."

Smith tiredly rubbed his forehead and drawled, "Perhaps something related to your role in the world? Something that would discredit you?"

"Our gold?" admitted the other goblin. "I mean, the gold that is under our care? Once again, we have been preparing for such a thing for quite some time. We are utterly and completely secure."

Jasper sensed that the goblin was rather proud and confident. "Wait a minute, do you actually know how to inhibit slingshot Portkeys?" he asked.

"I'm not going to comment on that," retorted the goblin, insulted by such a question. If they did, it was obviously a secret.

"It doesn't matter. Nobody is ever utterly and completely secure," argued Bella. "Have any vampire ever tried to rob you?"

"No, not our particular bank. Nor have I ever heard about such a thing. However, that doesn't mean anything. While no vampires have ever tried to rob us, I can assure all of you that a notion that anybody, even a vampire, could walk in one of our facilities and get away with a significant treasure is ridiculous."

"Who said anything about getting away with anything?" retorted Jasper.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm not talking about a suicidal mission, there aren't many vampires without a survival instinct. I was talking about the treasure part."

There was a moment of silence. Smith understood as first. He laughed lightly through his nose but he remained silent. Bella took out her wallet and showed a ten dollar bill to the goblins.

"Does this have any value to you?" she asked.

"No. I can't exchange it for a fixed amount of silver," answered one of the goblins. "I can buy some basic resources for banknotes but that's about it. Only precious metals and gems have any real financial power."

"So you see. Now hold onto your feeling about paper money and imagine that somebody could feel the same way about gold. And suddenly, you are facing a whole new kind of a security threat."

"Preposterous!"

"Not for vampires," assured him Jasper. "We can't drink gold. One can buy hippogriff blood for it but only if there's a wizard willing to sell to a vampire. Sure, precious metals are used in many modern technologies but electronics probably don't even work around the Romanian ancient. As for all the other things a vampire might need in certain circumstances, such as weapons, money will serve just as well as gold or diamonds. That is if you actually wish to pay for them."

"Very well, let's get to the point," interjected Smith. "Does your security measures account for a possibility of somebody actually attempting to destroy a large amount of your gold? Because, unlike our cold friends here, I find an idea of a nuclear explosion inside one of your vaults for gold reserves rather catastrophic."

One of the officers supported Smith, "I have to agree. Such an idea was around for some time in our culture and it's considered a true nightmare. Are you telling us that none of your people have ever contemplated such a scenario?"

The two goblins started to talk to each other in hushed voices in their own language.

"We'll talk with our superiors about this," said one of them finally.

"I hope you can persuade them to take this seriously," added Bella.

* * *

Contrary to the prediction, next attack wasn't on goblins (or their banks, to be specific). Alas, their prediction was close enough.

It all started (for the Cullens) when Smith called Jasper. He and Alice were in Langley at the moment.

"Something is happening in Fort Knox," informed them Smith.

He didn't get to finish because Alice saw everything immediately. "A group of mercenaries led by a vampire," she stated. "No wizards."

"Come get us to the Langley apparation point," requested Jasper.

While they ran there, he briefed Edward about the situation and told him to stay put. He and Alice were going to take care of it themselves.

Smith transported them to an edge of an anti-apparation ward (courtesy of goblins) around the building of bullion depository. There were no signs of an ongoing attack visible from their standpoint. It was preferable that way.

"Alice, stay with Smith," ordered Jasper. "You two give me a minute, then follow with troops after me."

Alice was about to argue but she changed her mind when she saw Jasper responding, "Stay behind and watch for any traps! Let me know if you see anything."

Jasper ran away. He reached first corpses in a few seconds. Somebody went through the outer security like a knife through butter.

He continued and reached another contribution from goblins to the security of the building. Jasper contacted Smith to make sure that it was deactivated. It was a non-lethal system to capture vampires by blobs of fast-hardening jelly. Obviously, it was quite lethal for humans - there were several bodies of the attacking mercenaries. It seemed that they had been protecting the vampire by their own bodies. The countermeasure fulfilled its purpose at least partially - it slowed the attackers down.

There were more bodies of security personnel afterwards. Jasper ran past them and wondered whether the attackers reached second trap. His question was answered when he heard a whoosh of fire. When he reached the trap, there was only a handful of charred bodies and burning remains of a vampire (the humans didn't keep burning because they were full of water).

With the danger gone, Jasper turned back. It was ill advised to expose himself too much (at least until Elizabeth grew older). He rejoined Smith and Alice.

"This was no real attack," alleged Jasper. "It had no chance of success. That vampire didn't even know enough about what awaited him."

"It will look real enough to the government," argued Smith. "Quite many people dead. All that from only one vampire."

"Maybe that was the plan," theorized Jasper. "We'll need to discuss this later."

* * *

Bella didn't participate in a meeting which took place next day in the White House but both Jasper and Smith did. Eleazar was there as well as a representative of the Denalis. Goblins had four delegates present.

There wasn't much need to discuss at length what to tell the public. It had been decided right after the attack to keep the whole thing secret and anybody who asked was told that it had been just a drill.

Jasper reiterated his theory that the whole attack was feint. "Trust me, if the Romanians wished to take Fort Knox, they would send more than one vampire and there would be at least one wizard. However, they do not wish to reveal their hand yet."

As the meeting continued, Jasper and Eleazar were glad to note that no one really leaned towards the idea of starting to turn marines into vampires. Maybe they had tried that already and failed.

A question was raised by the goblins why had been Fort Knox selected as the target. The question was purely rhetorical but they wanted the answer to be said out loud.

"Fort Knox holds only a small percentage of all gold on this planet," rehashed one of the goblins. "Especially if we take our reserves into account. However, these particular bullions have a special meaning. In terms of your paper money system."

The idea was simple. Destroy the American gold reserves, destroy the money "covered" by that gold. Everybody in the room understood that but Jasper seemed to be the only one who actually remembered that the whole attack was only a trick.

As the meeting progressed, an idea started to emerge (or a question, to be precise). Wouldn't it be actually cheaper to task the goblins with safekeeping the gold than to improve the security measures in Fort Knox (and West Point as well)? The four goblins supported the idea. It seemed to Jasper that everybody forgot about his warning from the beginning. He took a deep breath and used his gift to kill the excitement about the idea in the room.

"What are you doing?" asked Smith.

"Forgive me," apologized Jasper. "It seemed to me that you have forgotten about something. If the Romanians had wanted to get all the way to the gold, they would have done so. They wouldn't have been able to get away with it and they would have all died there. Alas, they aren't ready to take such great losses yet. Especially not for something where the price is bigger than the reward, no offence. So they are resorting to trickery. Maybe they want us to focus on Fort Knox and neglect protection of nuclear silos. Or more likely, this is a part of their plan concerning goblins. After all, it's the goblin banks that are holding this world together, not Fort Knox and dollars."

"That's a speculation," said one of the present humans. To his credit, he wasn't talking about Jasper's remark about dollars.

"How would they use this to attack us?" asked one of the goblins.

"There are two options," answered Jasper. "One is that they already posses means of attacking one of your vaults. They'll wait till the gold from Fort Knox is there and then they'll attack and destroy it. That would surely drive a wedge between goblins and humans. Second option is that the moving of the gold itself is a part of the attack."

That caught everybody's attention.

"How?" asked Smith.

"The possibilities are limitless. If I was in their shoes, I would somehow infiltrate the transportation process. Or maybe something was added in the vault already. A nuclear bomb temporarily shrunken and placed inside a hollow bullion!"

"Excuse me," exclaimed one of the muggles present. "Our gold bullions aren't hollow!"

"Regardless," interrupted one of the goblins assertively, "We won't transfer anything into our most secure vaults until it's proven to be safe!"

"Well, that might be a problem," said Smith. "If there was any kind of a magical anomaly in the vault, we would know. So if there's anything, it's so subtle that we can't detect it while the wards are active. And no, we can't turn them off while the gold is still there. At least we know that it can't be a shrunken nuclear bomb. That would be perfectly detectable."

"But it could be some kind of a beacon," maintained another goblin. "We've planned to move the gold into a secret vault system deep underground. Anybody learning its location would bad enough."

"And we would never prove that it wasn't our own beacon," remarked Jasper.

"Excuse me, we would detect a beacon as well," insisted Smith. "And if it was inactive, we would detect it anyway. After all, a beacon needs to be powerful to penetrate your wards."

"When it's activated," supplemented one of the goblins.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Smith.

"It needs to be powerful when it's activated. It can be weak now."

"What are you talking about? No magical object can be more magical than it was at the moment of its creation. That is, unless someone comes and somehow charges it. If the object allows it."

"Or it can charge itself."

"Excuse me, I'm not sure I follow. Magical objects can't just charge themselves internally."

"Excuse me," interrupted them Jasper. "I believe that our friends have been holding out on us and would like to discuss it elsewhere. And as a matter of fact, so do I because I do have an idea how to find this anomaly."

"Like when you found Ohio?" prodded Smith carefully. Jasper gave him a look to keep silent.

The non-magical participants of the meeting didn't like being shut out but they still remembered exploits such as finding Ohio or foiling the terrorist attacks.

Jasper, Smith, and one of the goblins reconvened later that day.

"So, your people have found a way to charge magical objects by non-magical means," opened up Jasper.

"It's not so simple but yes, essentially," confirmed the goblin.

"Like some kind of a material with a half-life?" continued Jasper.

"Wait a minute," interrupted Smith. "We would detect any magically active material as well."

"And who says that it has to be such a material?" hinted the goblin.

"Not me," assured him Jasper. "Do I understand correctly, that the thing you are trying so hard not to say, is that your people have found a way to turn nuclear energy into magic? And yes, we do understand that this is a most secret information. However, if the Romanians know how to do it, then the cat is out of the bag anyway."

"This is impossible," murmured Smith in disbelief. "I mean, it's possible theoretically - Nicolas Flamel proved that. The question is, why aren't you ruling this planet already, if it's true? Or have you found out only recently?"

"No, we had this knowledge long before your people learned how to make wands," supplied the goblin grudgingly. "Alas, it's just like I've said - it's not so simple."

"Very well, let's talk about something else," concluded Jasper, turning to a new page. "We may have means of checking the contents of Fort Knox. Quickly and without disabling the wards."

"I've figured as much," commented Smith. "Well, let's do it."

It was decided to perform the check as soon as possible. Alice and Jasper were let inside the Fort Knox vault - a thing most surely unheard of. Jasper received a complete register of all golden bullions inside. They planned an optimal pattern of progress.

The idea was simple in theory but difficult in praxis. Alice was going to approach each sealed compartment with an intention to enter it and look at each gold bar in it. Smith was prepared to fix seals with his magic if required. If there was no jamming, Alice wouldn't actually enter.

The problem was that such a method was a level further than the search for Ohio. They weren't sure whether it would be possible to uncover anything with so much time-folding. True enough, Alice encountered a problem at first compartment. She couldn't get a proper read on the inside. There was only one way to get over it. They unlocked the compartment and Alice checked its contents. Everything seemed all-right. Smith resealed the compartment afterwards.

They didn't have to repeat that afterwards and progressed somewhat faster. Jasper wasn't very surprised when they found out that many seals were probably newer than they were supposed to be. There were only a few dozen compartments so they expected to be done soon.

"This one!" cried Alice out about twenty minutes later.

They entered and Alice checked the bars one by one. She handed the suspicious one to Jasper.

"I knew it!" he praised himself and checked its ID. "This is strange. The ID is proper."

"Which doesn't say much, given the state of things here, does it?"

Smith took a cursory look at the brick of gold. There was a minuscule magical activity. It wasn't hollow but only the outer shell was golden. There was an inner shell made of aluminium. On the other hand, some heavier material formed the core. The result weighed as much as a normal bullion would.

"Don't take it apart," urged Jasper. "We need to preserve it as it is. And don't tell me that you wouldn't like to look at its power-source."

"Of course," growled Smith.

"And don't take it away from here either. For all we know, it might react to leaving the wards."

They started to investigate how the fake bullion could possibly get inside the most secure vault in USA. The only possible option was that it had been smuggled inside during last audit. It had taken place before awakening of the Romanian ancient actually but it was assumable that Vladimir and Stefan weren't idle before that. The security in place made sure that no bullions were carried out (or it was supposed to at least) but apparently there weren't such meticulous checks in the opposite direction. It was also unclear how the bullion had gotten inside a compartment when the auditors merely checked the seals on the compartments.

Another concern was how the Romanians had acquired such an advanced technology. They hoped that they had stolen it from goblins and didn't posses any means of replicating it.

There was another meeting later that week. In Pentagon, this time around. No goblins were present. They decided that it was a security risk for them to work with humans too closely.

"It's a kind of a tracking beacon," briefed Smith everybody. "It has a radioactive core which somehow charges it with magic. Once it's charged to a certain level, it will send a signal which will enable the Romanians to pinpoint its exact location. That is, if it was them who planted it there. There is no reason to doubt that though. The question is, what are we going to do with it? At this moment, it's stored in Fort Knox."

"Well, that's simple," interrupted Jasper. "We'll place that beacon underground. Let's say in some deep natural caves to make it believable. We'll put a nuke next to it and when they come..." Jasper mimicked a nuclear explosion with his hands.

"You can't be serious," challenged one of the generals.

"It worked with Voldemort," shot back Jasper.

"Now, now," argued Smith. "There's no reason to use a nuke. When underground, any inflammable substance will be just as lethal. However, we should consider whether using the bullion as a bait is really a good idea. This is probably the most advanced piece of magic and technology that we have ever seen. I think we should take it apart and study it."

"And I think that some things are better left buried," interrupted Jasper again.

"Excuse me, this may be possibly a key to interstellar travel."

"Shouldn't we resolve problems of this planet before we colonize others?"

"Enough," bellowed an admiral who was getting tired of the two arguing civilians. "This can be decided later. The most urgent question is who smuggled the beacon inside?"

"Yes, excuse me," apologized Smith and switched to next slide on the projector. It was an image and basic information of some man. "This is our major suspect. A governmental employee, almost nothing notable about him. He participated in last four audits of Fort Knox. We believe that he simply noted an ID of a missing bullion and secretly brought in a replacement next time. Because the bullion wasn't missing officially, it was a perfect way to mask something that didn't belong."

Some of the people present grumbled. They didn't like how flippantly Smith talked about their dirty laundry.

"We tried to find him but it seems that he has disappeared," continued Smith. "So we analysed any data we had on him. Family, associates, and such. And this is when things get interesting. He also works, or worked, as an independent consultant for this man who also happens to be one of the more significant stockholders in FED."

An image of Rufus Feller appeared.

"What does he have to do with anything?" exclaimed one of the present civilians. "That's one of the richest citizens of this country!"

"Was. He became somewhat poorer because he was betting against goblins. Without knowing that he was actually doing it, of course. He also circulated the same circles which were circulated by people who enabled the September eleventh. Then some tabloids reported his disappearance. Those reports were supposedly ruled out as false when he supposedly reappeared."

"Supposedly?" asked somebody.

"We've performed a superficial investigation," answered Smith. "By mind probing certain people not very close to Feller, we have uncovered that he really did disappear for some time. And so far, he hasn't returned. It seems that he's controlling what's left of his empire remotely. We intend to find out more by spying on his closest employees and family but that's something that needs to be done carefully."

Jasper intended to use Bella and Edward for that. As usual, he didn't like to give the other too much details about his family.

"What are you suggesting?" asked a general. "That he's working for the Romanians now?"

"That's what we are going to determine but he certainly has a motive. Somebody like him would surely want a revenge on goblins. The real question is, is he still a human?"

"Do you believe that he has become a vampire?"

"Probably a real one. Undead. From beyond the grave. We'll know soon enough."

Fort Knox was discussed briefly. With goblins out of the picture, it didn't seem like much was going to change.

* * *

Jasper and Alice returned home. It was time to have a big meeting. Not just their family but their Quileute allies as well. Unfortunately, Carlisle and Esme couldn't come home. Carlisle was participating in an important experiment and Esme didn't want to leave him.

Initially, Edward didn't think that it was a good idea for Elizabeth to come as well but she insisted. Bella agreed that if she wanted to come, then she should be allowed to. Charlie and Andromeda were present as well.

Jasper unrolled a map of the area and opened the meeting.

"In the light of recent events, I've realized that we need to discuss two important matters. First of them is creation of solid protocols for dealing with emergent situations. Especially in regards with keeping Elizabeth safe when her parents are required elsewhere. On a normal day, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, and me are away. That leaves Elizabeth with four vampires. When Fort Knox was attacked, I purposely told Edward to stay here. But what if more of us are required? So, let's consider a case when only Emmett and Rosalie are left here with Elizabeth."

"Why me and Rose?" protested Emmett.

"Because we don't have magical abilities," shushed him Rose.

"It's just a basic case. We'll talk about about other eventualities soon enough. Now, the starting point of my reasoning from here on is that La Push is the main home-town of our strategy. It doesn't really matter if our house gets blown up and there's no reason to protect it but La Push is a target which is big, strong, and vulnerable."

Nobody considered what he said to be contradictory. They were strong because they had a witch and a whole pack of retired wolves. They were vulnerable because any vampire could attack an elementary school and kill a bunch of children before any help would arrive.

"Excuse me," interrupted Charlie. "Should I be here? Somebody could read these plans from my mind."

"Frankly, we won't be discussing anything that isn't obvious. But, it should be better if you didn't listen to anything that you don't need to know. Just in case. So, it's just Emmett and Rosalie here. Edward, Bella, Alice, and me are on mission somewhere on another continent. In such a time, Carlisle and Esme should return to Forks as soon as possible. Unless they too are doing something critical. Either way, Emmett and Rose need to get Elizabeth to La Push where Mrs. Tonks and all present wolves and ex-wolves need to be alarmed."

They discussed how such a delivery of Elizabeth into the hands of the Quileutes should look like. The elders agreed to let them come as far as they had come when they were answering the call from Hogwarts. Charlie agreed to leave everything in such a case and go to the reservation to help Andromeda to look after Elizabeth and Teddy. That is, unless Forks itself was in danger too which seemed improbable. Andromeda didn't like the idea of drawing danger to herself and Teddy but she considered it improbable that anybody would ever come for Elizabeth specifically.

"And what are the two of us going to do?" asked Emmett.

"What do you think?" retorted Jasper.

"The sea," guessed Rose.

"Exactly. If it's all right with everybody, any vampires present should guard the access to La Push from the ocean. That's the only front-line where any attacking vampires would have an advantage."

They discussed the matter more and covered other variants (such as a case when most wolves would be on a vampire hunt). Andromeda agreed to look into a possibility of setting alarm wards around La Push. Elizabeth offered her help quickly. Fawkes was mentioned but everybody agreed that he was way too unpredictable to be relied on as an emergency means of escape. They moved on to second item on agenda afterwards.

"Another thought that occurred to me in relation to Fort Knox is this. As you might remember, we have agreed to keep a low profile until Voldemort, Bella's mother, and the Volturi are defeated. Well, that's done and we have come out of hiding. The question is, how much visible do we want to be? Right now, most of highest military commanders and of the government know about our existence. But truth to be told, I would prefer if we only exposed ourselves to people with which we really need to cooperate. Are we all in agreement on this?"

The meeting concluded about an hour later. Elizabeth asked Andromeda and the pack to linger behind for a moment.

"I want to show you something," she said and pulled out a candle out of her pocket. She put it on the floor, sat next to it, and raised her hands above it. Nothing seemed to happen for a while but then her audience noticed that parts of the candle were thawing.

"A moment, please. I need to focus it properly."

A little while later, the wick ignited.

"Cool," appraised Jacob. "No, wait a minute. Coolness doesn't set things on fire!"

"What is it? Pyrokinesis?" asked Jasper.

"Nope, magic," answered Elizabeth.

"Well, that would work against a vampire," commented Bella. "Provided that you can make it faster and stronger. However, I don't see this penetrating magical shields and the Romanians do have wizards on their side."

"Oh come on," argued Jared. "That's why there's a witch and a squad of former wolves with assault rifles. We would just apply the same tactics we've practised with you."

"Maybe it's not a matter of intensity," theorized Elizabeth. "My magic has advantages that human brain doesn't provide. I didn't just conjure heat right now, it was more like an extended limb. It would be same if I managed to conjure flames. They wouldn't be just simple flames, they would be a manifestation of my magic. What if I found a way to modulate magic in those flames to nullify the magical field of an enemy's shields?"

"Are you sure you don't watch too much science fiction?" asked Jared doubtfully. "Because this sounds like when one ships fires its beam weapons at another ship in some weird, scientific way which isn't fully understood even by hard-core fans of the genre..."

"Wait a minute," spoke up Edward. "Maybe I don't know much about magic but this sounds risky to me. If this magic is still a part of you even after it's projected outwards, what's there to prevent somebody to harm you through those flames?"

Bella answered instead of Elizabeth. "Actually, my death-field projection felt the same way. But it's more like a sword rather than a limb. If you stick it somewhere where you shouldn't, it might get snapped. But that's all - you yourself are unharmed."

"Quite," agreed Elizabeth.

They managed to convince Andromeda to help Elizabeth train.

* * *

Edward and Bella linked their telepathic abilities in a private room in a café on Wall Street. Smith was with them, guarding the door.

"Well?" he asked about half an hour later, when the two vampires stopped concentrating.

"We've found somebody who has actually seen him," answered Bella.

"It's confirmed," told him Edward. "Feller has become an ancient vampire."


	9. Trap

Trap

In the end, it was decided to use the beacon as a trap. Secrecy was of up-most importance so the whole plan was known only to a handful of people. The government was even against telling their British allies but Smith convinced them to let them give Hermione a small heads-up. After all, the Brits could accidentally interfere with their plan otherwise.

It started by a feigned transport of all gold from Fort Knox. The transport was "supposed" to be secret but a such an activity was impossible to hide. It garnered a lot of attention and tabloids filled with conspiracy theories. The government denied everything and claimed that nothing was transported out but rather the opposite - building materials were being brought in for some major repairs and improvements.

The only bullion that was transported away was the beacon. Something was triggered inside it when it left the premises of Fort Knox (just like Jasper had expected). Its rate of charging up increased after a few days. That meant that everything was going to go down much sooner than they had expected.

Smith convinced their goblin friends to help them find a perfect place for their trap. They (the goblins) believed that doing such a thing won't put them at risk and told Smith about a deep cave system which they had been using ages ago. All the vaults in there were empty and anything possible to dismantle (such as vault doors) had been taken away.

The only trick was to create an illusion that the place was active. It was important to remember that the illusion needed two levels - one for real attackers and one for accidental trespassers. The latter was highly improbable but the former would consider absence of such measures suspicious.

The rock around the place was very hard to penetrate and they warded the place immediately so they could presume that the attackers were going to take a natural route. They started by placing bars or gates at every entry point to the cave system. They placed warning signs forbidding entry without special permit.

All the entry ways joined into two possible routes further along. Both places were inside the wards. They barricaded both bottlenecks by concrete walls and thick doors. There were signs strictly forbidding entry under a pain of death and cameras. The cameras had been originally normal (electronic) but their insides had to be removed and replaced with a magical equivalent (because fo the wards). It was something that the attackers would expect there because the place was still reachable by nosy speleologists.

Next line of defences dropped the false level of illusion (the one for ordinary people). There were automated machine gun turrets. Only the proper word wasn't "automated" but "animated". Once again, magic had to be used because electronic devices didn't work in there. Ammunition belts of the turrets combined ordinary, incendiary, and armour piercing incendiary slugs.

They didn't have to post any soldiers in there because the attackers knew that it was a goblin facility. Alas, there weren't going to be any goblins either and leaving the place completely empty was suspicious. After much consideration, two experts on Inferi were invited to create next line of defence. Guts of the corpses were replaced by sacks of gasoline. The rough idea was to ignite the gasoline upon damage. They suspected that it wasn't going to work too well in praxis but that didn't matter.

The main part of the cave system had only one entrance. There used to be a heavy gate. They replaced it with a replica which looked like it was forged by goblins. A thorough inspection by an expert would reveal that it wasn't the case but that was irrelevant for their purposes and it wasn't worth convincing the goblins to do it themselves.

They placed a warning plague with a traditional engraving warning of any intruders. The text was borrowed from one of the goblin banks in United States. The whole place looked like the goblins supposedly guarding the place ignored anything outside and considered the real defences to start at their gate.

There was a magical eye placed above the gate. Once again, it was logical for goblins to place such a thing there instead of relying on surveillance provided by humans. The gate was reinforced by magic. They expected that the attackers were going either to crush or to blow up the rock around it.

The fact that there were no goblins inside had to be masked. They used a lot of garlic for that.

Wizards placed purely magical defences after the gate. There wasn't much space left though because first vault chambers were nearby. Several one-way quantum entanglement mirrors were placed in the main cavern. The beacon was placed in a deep corner of the caves.

The vault system was the point where any pretences ended and where the trap was supposed to snap. They selected two large vaults and placed a modified rocket engine in each of them. They were meant to function as giant flame-throwers. They were placed in such a way that they were going to fill the entire area with flames at a hypersonic speed. Not even a vampire was able to outrun that.

When all was finished, the only thing left to do was wait and keep the smell of garlic fresh. They weren't sure when the beacon was going to activate but they were going to know when it would.

* * *

Elizabeth was finishing up reassembly of a handgun. She pushed a slide stop into its position and pulled the slide back to confirm functionality. She de-cocked the hammer and put the gun down.

"OK, load five," instructed Jacob. He was "teaching" Elizabeth to shoot a handgun. Of course, she already knew all the theory and had some praxis in gun manipulation.

"So, this is one of the original ones?" asked Elizabeth while she was filling a magazine.

"No. I mean yes," answered Jacob. "There was only one original. Emily has got it now. The others, including this one, were copies created by your mom. You know, back in the old days when it was just her and Sam, with Jared and Paul coming. Enough talk, let's get to it."

It seemed like ages ago to him. All three of those wolves were retired and married. Sam and Emily were awaiting their first child. Jacob was becoming a relic.

They put their earmuffs on. While they didn't have to fear permanent ear damage and they were at an outdoor range, it still wasn't pleasant to expose their eardrums to loud noises.

Elizabeth inserted the magazine and pulled the slide back. Jacob told her to start shooting. She fired all five shots in quick succession, removed the magazine, and put the gun down. Jacob put binoculars to his eyes and inspected the target (which was fifty meters away).

"That was a show-off which backfired," he commented. There was no need to explain, Elizabeth could see that her grouping wasn't perfect. He asked her to step aside.

"Just take your time for now, line up your every shot, and make sure that you aren't jerking the gun," instructed Jacob while he was filling the magazine for himself. Elizabeth did her best to take the criticism without any childish reactions. That was quite a feat, considering that she wasn't even two years old yet.

Jacob assumed a stance, showed his grip to Elizabeth, and opened fire. With that kind of a gun, he didn't have much of an advantage over humans but he was shooting almost as quickly as Elizabeth and did much better. To be honest though, he was used to the gun.

"Just because you aren't a human doesn't mean you should underestimate the learning process," lectured Jacob. "I know that Bella was making you to do everything properly ever since she started to teach you. She told me. Don't compare your performance with humans, compete with yourself instead."

"Yes, yes, I get it. My turn."

After several boxes of ammo, they called it a day.

"Are we going to clean it?" asked the girl.

"Nah. I cleaned it two months ago."

They started to laugh. The truth was that they planned to shoot next day again. Jacob was glad that she wasn't angry at him. They stopped at Jacob's home and he made some tea (Elizabeth didn't like teas but she was able to tolerate some of them).

"Look, I hope that you understand that I want you to be able to take care of yourself," said Jacob while they were waiting.

"Of course, I'm not a kid. I mean, I am, but I can take constructive criticism."

"That's good. Just imagine it. Even without doing it right and with no muscle memory, you did better than most humans. If you train properly, you will be as good as a vampire. A one that can shoot, of course."

"Yes, I get it."

"OK."

They drank their tea and decided to find Leah and Teddy.

While they walked, Jacob said, "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes?"

"How's your mother?"

"What do you mean?"

"How is she doing? We used to be friends, I think. We don't talk much now so I need to ask you. I'm not talking just about her vampirism. From a general perspective, is she happy?"

"Well, I guess," answered Elizabeth slowly. "I don't have much of a reference. I feel like she doesn't think about it herself. I mean, things haven't slowed down yet since she woke to her new life."

"I see."

They found Leah, Teddy, and Seth by tide pools. Normally, it wasn't safe for Elizabeth to be near sea but it was very shallow there and no vampire would be able to approach unseen.

"Hi!" called Elizabeth and waved.

Teddy waved back and changed his hair colour to match Elizabeth's.

"Cool!" commented Elizabeth when they reached them. "Can he change his face too?"

"Don't be ridiculous," chastised her Leah. "He's less than two years old."

Alas, that didn't diminish Elizabeth's enthusiasm one bit.

"Just wait when he grows up and learns to mimic other people. That could be invaluable if he becomes a cop or an agent."

Seth and Jacob laughed at her zeal while Leah reiterated that it was way too early for such talks. In the heat of the discussion, nobody noticed when Teddy walked to an edge of a tidal pool and started to lean in. There was a splash and the other four people turned just when he got up again and started to whine about being wet and cold.

* * *

Among other things, Jasper and Edward cooperated with a team of humans on tracking Feller's activities. It was extremely difficult because he was operating in an entirely different way than during his human life. He always acted through several middle-men and as far as Edward could tell, not even the top-tier decision makers were aware that they were working for a vampire. It seemed like they weren't receiving actual orders but were rather receiving ideas telepathically without realizing it.

As for Feller's closest associates, many of them vanished. They imagined that they were all sitting in some HQ, analysing financial markets. It was too late to regret not tracking them better and the fact was that they probably wouldn't have done that anyway. It was decided not to do anything to disrupt Feller's operations and only observe. After all, he wasn't doing anything illegal. Yet.

They wanted to know what was his role in the Romanian coven. Was he even part of the coven? They also wondered who was the other "ancient" vampire. Was he a Death Eater? Also, how many of such vampires were created by the leader of the Romanians?

* * *

"Hermione's" project of a new generation fighter jet (the one used by Jasper and Alice during the plane attacks) controlled by the new remote technology was going well. The mind control interface also allowed for operators to communicate inside a squadron. The whole concept was inspired by Quileutes. The idea was for a squadron to operate like a pack.

Because former shape-shifters had better results with the mind interface "technology" than normal pilots, there was certain pressure to allow them to enter a fighter pilot training even though their marks at school didn't fit the criteria. So far, only Jared took the opportunity and entered a flight school. It seemed that while he was done with his "career" of a wolf, he wasn't quite done with his career of a soldier. Kim wasn't sure how to feel about Jared being away from La Push even more than when he had been in the pack. The upside was that it was only temporary. As a drone operator, he wasn't going to be away from home afterwards.

* * *

Hermione asked Bella to visit her in London. She told her that it was about her being one of the few vampires capable of connecting to the quantum entanglement technology used to control drones (and unmanned fighters). Bella wasn't sure if it was so important but Jasper advised her to accept the invitation. He accompanied her.

Hermione led them to a research facility where she worked. She told them that she had created a prototype of a mind control interface which should be compatible with vampires. On their way to the laboratory where it was being developed, they stopped at another laboratory where Hermione's new quantum computer was. They were surprised to see a goblin researcher in there.

"The prototype which I've made two years ago led to some of the technology used in the drones," she explained. "But I've thought, why can't we take it further and make a proper quantum computer capable of solving problems unsolvable by a Turing machine?"

"You know, normal computers don't actually have the power of a Turing machine," reminded her Jasper.

Hermione gave him a look saying that she didn't need him to state obvious things. Jasper flicked his eyes towards Bella to communicate that he was saying it for her sake.

"It can't do much," continued Hermione. "But we've managed to run a database and a speech interface on it."

The goblin took a microphone, pressed a button, and said, "Hello."

"Hello," answered a voice from speakers.

"We've entered that response," explained Hermione.

The goblin pressed the button again and ordered, "Tell me the name of the monarch who ruled Britain in the year 1840 AD."

"Alexandrina Victoria."

"You can do that with normal computers as well," reminded Jasper.

"Quite. And this one isn't even perfected yet," commented Hermione and nodded at the goblin.

He pressed the button again and asked, "Who ruled Britain in the year 1840 AD?"

"Unrecognised query," was the response. "Please rephrase."

"I see," uttered Jasper.

"Of course, normal computers can't work in vicinity of magic," reminded Hermione. "That's the whole point."

They moved to a drone lab afterwards. There was a mind interface prototype and a very simple quantum computer.

"After we found out that a vampire can't work with an interface designed for humans, I've decided that it was worth the effort to make it work," explained Hermione. "I even found another vampire who can connect with it and managed to construct a new interface. It operates on much higher... well, you could call it frequency. The problem is that he can't connect to it properly like you can. And that's where I need your help to fine tune it."

"I've got two issues with that," protested Bella. "One is that I don't like the idea of letting anybody examine how my mind works. What if the data fell into wrong hands? I'm sure the ancient leader of the Romanians is telepathic."

"Well, we won't be examining your mind, only the orders which you project. Also, I'll destroy the data. This is just a proof of concept for the hardware."

"Very well. The second issue is that I'm not a pilot. Don't you remember that I was never interested in flying at Hogwarts?"

"You are thinking about drones but we don't need vampires for that. With your brain, you could control... I don't know, a starship!"

"I could control a starship from a Linux command line."

Jasper sighed and proposed, "Can we just get on with this? I'll start while you make your mind."

He put on a helmet and Hermione turned the device on. The results weren't any better than from her previous subject. Bella agreed to try it as well afterwards. After some fine tuning, she was able to emit all the commands recognized by the test system, both discrete and fuzzy ones.

"By the way, have you tried it with house-elves?" asked Jasper when they were leaving. "It's just that since you've mentioned starships..."

* * *

The beacon activated. John Smith informed the Cullens. Jasper and Alice left to join Smith in a command centre from which the entire operation was going to be coordinated. Alice wasn't sure whether she was going to be of any help (because of the wards) but it was better to have her there. Emmett, Rose, Jacob, Quill, and Embry were prepared with a Portkey to be deployed to Jasper's aid if needed. Bella, Edward, Carlisle, and Esme were to stay at home with Elizabeth at all circumstances.

They didn't know whether the Romanians were going to attack immediately but logic told them that it was probable. After all, every minute supposedly represented a risk of goblins discovering that something was wrong.

True enough, they detected over a dozen incoming Portkeys soon. Motion sensors detected movement in the restricted area. A satellite poised above the region showed that there were indeed people entering the caves. Judging by their speed, they were vampires. It didn't seem like they were trying to be stealthy.

The attackers reached both reinforced doors shortly afterwards and the cameras gave the people in the command centre first detailed images.

"Dementors," observed Smith. "They have Dementors in vanguard."

"That was to be expected," commented Jasper. "Many ancient vampires were able to sway Dementors."

"I know. However, I'm not sure if it's smart to use them in this case. It slows the attack down, after all."

The cameras were smashed then. A few moments later, turrets opened fire. Choppers carrying soldiers took off and headed there. Smith and other wizards were prepared to lend hand, along with Jasper and Alice.

After some time, they started to receive signals from the Infery. They were bursting one by one, hopefully setting vampires and Dementors on fire in the process.

When the attackers reached the "goblin" gate, the headquarters noted on the images from the magical eye that all the Dementors were gone. Smith didn't believe that they were all destroyed, it seemed more likely that they fled. Some of the vampires seemed to be damaged. Jasper wondered why didn't they retreat. Maybe they had some means of escape which was going to be activated only later?

A vampire who looked like a leader stood before the others. Before he turned his back to the gate to face his "troops", Jasper saw his face, found it familiar, and quickly snapped a picture of it. He asked for a permission to send it to Eleazar. The response got back a moment later. It was a former member of the Volturi guard.

In the meantime, the vampire spoke to his audience. He was speaking at vampire speed so Alice had to translate.

"The fun is over. This is where the true challenge starts. They say that no vampire has ever robbed a goblin bank. Well, no vampire has ever set foot in one!"

As if to make a point, the speaker drew a handgun and shot the magical eye.

"What was that?" exclaimed Jasper.

"What?" asked Smith.

"Just before the picture went out, I saw something. Two vampires carrying something into the cavern before the gate."

"What were they carrying?"

"Some kind of a big box or crate."

"Well, that sounds like some sort of a vanishing cabinet," pondered Smith. "Perhaps they mean to use it to steal the gold."

"Why would they want to steal it? That makes no sense."

"Well, that vampire said it himself. Maybe Feller wouldn't cooperate otherwise. And maybe the vanishing cabinet is merely means to escape."

"The wards don't account for it?"

"Oh, they do. Maybe it's some kind of a new vanishing cabinet."

It took about quarter an hour before they blasted enough rock around the gate. Jasper hoped that they wouldn't find it suspicious.

The attackers streamed into the main cavern. The magical traps triggered and the first wave was engulfed in flames. The rest of the force followed. The big box came as last. No one was left in front of the gate, the vampires decided to repel any reinforcements from behind the gate.

The leader pulled out some kind of a magical gadget. He turned around for a moment before pointing it in the direction of the beacon. It was a locator, obviously.

The vampires kept expecting a goblin attack but it wasn't coming. They could smell only burned vampires and garlic.

"Be on your guard," ordered the former Volturi guard. "There are more traps ahead and our enemy here isn't human. They don't think like humans and they won't attack like humans. Do not underestimate them."

They progressed slowly towards the beacon.

"What if it isn't a vanishing cabinet," mused Jasper. "Or more precisely, what if these vampires think that it is but it's something else in reality?"

He shared a look with Smith first and then with a general.

"A nuke," finished the general. He made a call immediately. "Order those choppers to land!" he ordered. "There might be an EMP."

Jasper looked at Alice. She nodded. She was able to see it already.

The vampires reached a spot when it was necessary to spring the trap. The doors of the two vaults housing the rocket engines were blown off. The entire area filled with flames. The vampires by the box had only a split of a second - not even enough to leave the entrance cavern. However, one of the managed to reach the box and open it. And that was it. All the images disappeared.

"What happened?" cried Smith, already knowing the answer.

"We are detecting a nuclear explosion!" announced some officer.

Jasper contacted home and told them what happened. The wolves weren't going anywhere but Emmett and Rose remained on stand-by.

"Send us in," told Jasper to Smith. "We still need to inspect the area." He turned to Alice and added a question, "That is, unless you believe that it's a trap?"

Alice merely shook her head lightly. She could see the area normally. The ward was destroyed. It didn't seem like anybody else was coming.

A Portkey delivered them both outside of the caverns. They searched the area and found nothing. A chopper with a radiological team arrived to measure radioactivity. Just as expected, there was none.

Jasper borrowed a Geiger counter and went inside. He reached a point where the caves collapsed soon. Anything still standing seemed unstable. There were no survivors.

"Well, a nuclear bomb it was," told Jasper to Smith later that day. "I wonder how they managed to make those vampires not to look inside sooner."

"They could have told them anything," theorized Smith. "Most probably that opening the thing would activate it and that it would be impossible to move it afterwards.

They couldn't deny one thing. The Romanians suffered great losses that day while they had none. And on top, they (the Romanians) believed that they succeeded.

* * *

In his secret headquarters, Rufus Feller accepted the news calmly. Only when he was alone, he allowed himself to close his hands into fists. The American gold reserves had been destroyed in a nuclear blast. The September eleventh had been one thing but this was something entirely different. Something which struck at something which he had carried on from his life. It wasn't a feeling or a sentiment, his undead psyche was free of those. It wasn't a professional pride of semi-ancients either, he was above that.

Somehow, he doubted that the Americans had blown their own gold up. The idea of goblins doing such a thing was even more ludicrous. The only real question was: Had his master always intended to do that or had it been his last resort measure in case the assault on goblins went wrong? Either way, he couldn't let the Romanians see that it affected him in any way.


	10. Politics

Politics

Nobody in the government was too happy about the nuclear explosion. Alas, they had to admit two things. One was that it was better for it to happen deep underground in an empty cavern rather than in Fort Knox full of gold. The other was that no one had been harmed actually and that there was no radioactive pollution.

Another benefit of the entire operation was the fact that American goblins started to renew their relations with the government. They kept a low profile to prevent arousing suspicion (they had supposedly lost all American golden reserves). It was clear that somewhere down the line, Romanians were going to believe that goblins have somehow outsmarted them which would make them look more dangerous than they were. No goblin had a problem with that.

Next move of the Romanians came several days after the attack. A pressure started to build to conduct an early audit of the gold in Fort Knox. It was clear that Rufus Feller was pulling the strings. Alas, it seemed that he wasn't putting his heart into it.

The question was, what was it that they intended to achieve with the audit? After all, no one was actually going to inspect the gold itself, only the seals. Did the Romanians think that they couldn't simply reseal the compartments?

It was decided to shoot any notion of a premature audit down and stick to the schedule. Let the Romanians think that the government was playing for time. Let them wonder what kind of a solution were they going to come up with.

In that regard, John Smith proposed a ludicrous idea during an informal meeting, "Wait. What if we invited a large group of leprechauns just before the audit? You know, to make Feller think that they are here to conjure up a bunch of fake gold."

He didn't seem serious but Bella had to ask, "And how would you get them here?"

"Well, we could revive the Quidditch World Cup. Then they would come here with the Irish team." (Quidditch wasn't played on international level any more and not even on national one in some countries.)

"Even if you managed that, you would put those leprechauns in danger. Let's just give the gig up when it's time. That would at least allow our goblin friends to drop the charade."

As the time of the regular "audit" approached, Feller revealed another card. A proposal appeared to replace the existing ribbons and seals on compartments in Fort Knox with something more modern. Such as steel cables and electronic locks. The latter was ridiculous because Fort Knox was warded and it wouldn't be simple to make such a thing work perfectly. Alas, no one believed that Feller actually expected it to go through. On the other hand, the idea of replacing the seals and ribbons with something stronger wasn't so new. It was decided not to prevent bringing the idea into consideration in future years.

* * *

Andromeda took a sip and put her tea down.

"You were saying?" prodded her Bella.

"To put it shortly, Emily gave birth to a baby girl. I don't know her name yet, I departed to tell you right away."

"That's wonderful news. That everything went well, I mean. I can't say it's a surprise since we all knew that it was coming and when it was coming."

To be honest, Bella and Edward were starting to feel a little bit guilty. While the two of them had started a family, the pack members had been putting their lives on hold.

Andromeda took another sip and snipped, "Well, one can't put too much faith in timing in this time and day."

So Sam and Emily had been worried about the child being affected by all the unnaturalness around. That was understandable.

"I hope you understand that Sam doesn't expect you to wish to see the child even though you are as related to her as I am," continued Andromeda. "And, of course, even though you've been through the anthill together."

"No, of course not," dismissed Bella, waving her hand. "Wouldn't want her to became all furry at such a young age."

Truth to be told, she kind of missed not seeing Sam and Emily as often as before. Alas, she understood that they had their own life to live.

* * *

With the Romanians biding their time, the magical world was relatively calm. There were few Death Eaters left and those of consequence were with the Romanians anyway. The rest were keeping a really low profile.

Old pure-blood families in France and the rest of the world weren't doing anything harmful. The news of an ancient vampire reawakening reached each and every one of them so they probably decided to lay low until the situation resolves itself.

The mundane world wasn't as calm. The ancient one expected NATO to start a war in Middle East. When that didn't happen, all the festering tensions in there started to near a boiling point. The new drones were prepared for deployment but there was no hurry. Sometimes, it was better to stay out of matters which didn't concern one directly.

It was necessary to reach this understanding with the other two global superpowers. Russia and China were asked to send their delegations for a clandestine meeting with an American one. Each delegation was supposed to consist of a representative of its government, military, magical population, and, if possible, vampires. Other representatives (such as of a local population of goblins) were also welcomed.

After some dealings, the meeting was set to take place in London in the former Ministry of Magic. As hosts, the Brits had two of their own representatives at the meeting. It was a small surprise that those representatives were Hermione and Eldridge. No politicians and no generals.

American vampires were represented by Eleazar. At one point, it was considered to invite Bella to open the meeting with a briefing about the ancient one but there wasn't for her to tell that she hadn't told Eleazar and Eldridge already. John Smith represented wizards. He was accompanied by two other humans and a goblin.

The Chinese surprised by merging the roles of a political and magical representative into one person. It was a member of NPC who also happened to be a weak wizard. The others doubted that it was a gesture of respect and trust towards Chinese wizards, it was probably that the Chinese government simply didn't want to send a wizard who wasn't a member of the party. Neither China nor Russia had got a vampire to send.

Eldridge opened the meeting by a short briefing about the "creepy ancient undead vampire" who was out there. It had more effect coming from him because from human perspective, Eldridge himself was a creepy vampire. Muggles from the American delegation continued by reviewing the situation in Middle East.

"I'm sure you have noticed that we are leaving the situation to unfold in its natural course," said a general from the delegation. "Why? Because we can't afford to start a new war which would destabilise the region even further. Not now, when we need to pour all our resources into preparing for this new threat. The question is, what are you going to do when certain unsavoury elements ask for your support?"

"Everybody who buys oil in there influences that region already," argued the Russian political representative instead of answering. "I wonder though, how long will this resolve last? Until the price of gas rises and you decide that you need cheaper oil from Iraq?"

"No," answered the general. "But I imagine that the horse breeding business will experience a boom when that time comes."

"Or we shall take a page from Israel," added his political counterpart. He was speaking about electric cars but he probably didn't know much about the matter.

"Oh, I wonder how will that be received by your citizens," maintained the Russian. "Not to mention that there's only so much lithium on the planet."

"It's free market. If they wish to buy gasoline for three dollars a gallon, it's their choice."

As the meeting continued, it seemed that the Russians were quite agreeable. They didn't know if the Romanians had a base of operations in Romania but the chances were that it was somewhere near Russia. All in all, they were in more danger than Americans.

On the other hand, Chinese were more ambivalent about the whole thing. They didn't believe that they were in any immediate danger and there was no intelligence to suggest otherwise. Alas, they agreed not to do anything disruptive.

* * *

Elizabeth's second birthday arrived. Because she (Elizabeth) had stopped by at Teddy's second birthday during the "golden operation", Bella decided that both Andromeda and Teddy ought to be there this time around. Leah and Seth were invited to accompany them.

Bella and Edward wondered whether they should invite Harry, Sue, and Billy or whether they should limit the number of guests to prevent the event from becoming overcrowded. Elizabeth offered an insight which helped them decide. She thought that the event wasn't just about her but that it was also an opportunity for people to meet. She was sure that Charlie, for example, would appreciate it. In the light of that, Bella extended the invitation to Jared, Kim, Sam, and Emily. She made sure that everybody understood that she didn't want to see many gifts - she didn't want Elizabeth to get Dudleyish after all.

There was no cake because Elizabeth didn't eat those. They considered making one nonetheless but Elizabeth believed that some sort of a middle ground was better. Hence, she decided to prepare sushi which she sometimes partook in. It was something that could be eaten both by her and humans. Moreover, everyone liked fish. Bella tried to imagine how was Charlie going to feel about a fish which wasn't baked or fried.

On the day of the birthday, the guests gradually arrived. The birthday girl greeted them all.

"Oh my, I can't believe that you are two years old," said Charlie because that was something usual to say. He almost added "already" but stopped himself in time.

"Quite," joked Jacob. "If I didn't know better I would say that she's older."

Charlie smiled nervously and nodded. As expected he wasn't thrilled by sushi.

"Don't worry, Charlie," assured him Seth and picked something wrapped in seaweed. "It's all fresh and completely OK. I would smell it if it needed cooking." He swallowed the morsel whole.

"Those are lightly steamed," pointed Elizabeth. "I warn you though, I don't have much experience with cooked meals."

Fawkes arrived and snatched a piece of vegetarian sushi. Bella had a snarky remark for him on her tongue but she stopped herself. He couldn't be relied on but it was ill-advised to be mean to him nonetheless. Who knew? Maybe he could provide Elizabeth with a way out of danger one day.

Sam and Emily showed photos of their daughter. Jared and Kim communicated with their eyes. Edward caught accidentally a thought from Kim - they were deciding whether they should announce something. It was then when he noticed a slight change in Kim's scent. Jared caught Edward looking at them and Edward tapped his nose. By that time, every other vampire knew the news as well. Jared and Kim gave each other another look and announced that they too were going to have a little one.

"Is it wise to be here?" asked Elizabeth after a round of congratulations.

"It's too early to have any effect," alleged Kim.

"At least we think so," added Jared.

Gifts were given until only one last one remained. A joint gift from Bella, Edward, Jacob, and even Andromeda. They put a small box in front of her.

Elizabeth sniffed and asked, "I smell oil, walnut, and... burned powder residue?" Her eyes went wide and she exclaimed, "Is it what I think it is?"

"We've agreed with Jacob that you are a good student," confirmed Bella with a smile. "And in this time and day, I believe you need to carry your own."

"What...?" murmured Charlie, not entirely sure what was it about.

Elizabeth opened the box and saw a ZP98. "Yay!" she squealed.

"I know, it's small," commented Jacob in a pretended dismissive tone. "But you need to grow up a little before you can conceal something bigger."

Edward rolled his eyes. Many adults chose that gun for concealed carry. Not to mention that a smaller gun of a same calibre required greater strength to handle the recoil.

"It's been customized," he explained. "The magazine well is magically enlarged in the inside. You need to use longer magazines."

"Twenty-two cartridges," supplied Jacob. It was him who made those magazines.

"Thank you," said Elizabeth. "Thank you all."

She looked at Andromeda when she said that. It was clear to her who did the wand work. Elizabeth wasn't sure what had been more difficult for Andromeda - doing something nice for her niece's daughter or following her niece's instructions.

She suddenly felt like she was letting the gift overshadow the other gifts so she turned at all the others and thanked them too (again). That was the moment when Charlie came out of his shock.

"You can't give her a gun!" he protested. "You can't give guns to two year old girls!"

"But giving them to two year old boys is OK?" sneered Emmett so silently that only those with super-hearing heard him.

"Oh, come on! You've ruined the atmosphere!" criticized Jacob.

"Something was bound to ruin it," defended him Jared. "Don't you know anything about how these things go? We are lucky that it was just Charlie and not an alien attack from space or something like that."

"Stop calling those things on us," reprimanded him Emmett. "Don't you remember what happened with those ants? You made them to swarm on us."

"Me? How?"

"Because you believed in it."

"You can't give guns to children!" maintained Charlie. "It's illegal!"

"Thank you for mentioning that," teased him Bella. "Do us a favour and make sure that it isn't discovered if you stop her in a routine traffic check tomorrow."

Charlie merely whimpered as he imagined Elizabeth driving a car.

"Don't worry," calmed him Billy. "They don't intend to give her a car of her own just yet. That would be spoiling."

Carlisle gave his wife a smile and sipped his space-drink. It was nice to have so many friends.

* * *

The world of vampires started to be interesting again a few months later. At least in Mexico.

Maria's territory, which had been relatively stable in previous decades, started to feel pressure from enemies. According to Peter and Charlotte, there were two covens. Neither of them were relying on newborn vampires too much. Both of them were attacking from south.

So far, nothing was discovered that would indicate involvement of either Vladimir or Stefan but it seemed unlikely that the Romanians would have nothing to do with it. Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte met in Denali to discuss the matter.

"We won't do anything at this moment," announced Jasper. "I don't think that you should do anything either."

"If Vladimir or Stefan are pulling the strings of those two covens, wouldn't it be prudent to support Maria?" disagreed Eleazar.

"That would be ill advised," refused Jasper.

"I concur," seconded Peter. Charlotte nodded.

"Are you sure that your judgement isn't impaired by your history with her?" asked Tanya.

"No, but it makes it easier to sit on our hands while she looses everything," replied Charlotte.

"There's a saying," said Jasper. "If two of your enemies fight, don't support either. Now, Maria isn't exactly an enemy but she most definitely isn't a friend."

"And yet, it was thanks to her that the southern front was so calm for years," contended Eleazar.

"It would be a mistake to imagine her as some kind of a barrier against vampires from south," countered Jasper. "She is an opportunist. Like Aro. No, not exactly like him but similar in certain aspects. The best thing to do is for you to to observe and keep us posted. If Maria looses, we'll strike."

"Very well, if you wish," surrendered Eleazar. "Now, I'm not going to mention that many people might die in this or that Maria could do something drastic."

"You just did," remarked Peter.

Eleazar ignored him and continued, "You've said that you intend to strike when Maria goes down, right?"

"That's correct."

"What if the Romanians are truly behind those two covens and what if those two covens are supposed to test defences of North America? When you smash those two covens, they'll see exactly what you have."

"I see," mused Jasper. "I guess we must not hit them with everything we've got."

They discussed the matter some more before parting. Jasper needed to consult Alice (and her ability) and his superiors. Peter and Charlotte returned to observing the situation.

The whole situation resulted in broader cooperation with Mexico. The country had been on board with what was happening for over a year but they had not been part of any joint projects. The problem was that the corruption level in the country was somewhat greater than in America which made the government wary of giving their neighbours even a limited access to technologies using magic. Mexico had its magic users after all so it could start its own project.

Alas, both countries agreed that greater cooperation was required because vampires didn't recognize any borders. One of the first fruits of the cooperation was a permission for American drones and "agents" to operate in Mexico. The idea was to monitor the situation and maybe influence what was happening with drone strikes. It was unclear what exactly were they going to do and it was clear that flexibility was going to be required.

Bella and Edward were dispatched to mind probe the attacking vampires from distance. Edward finally mastered focusing his gift on a single target or area so even if Vladimir or Stefan were near, the risk of exposure was minimal. Their spying didn't reveal anything substantial but it confirmed that those two covens didn't appear out of thin air.

Most members of the two covens had been created after Aro's demise but those in charge were aware that they weren't alone in the magical world and made sure to keep their activities hidden. Some of the founding members were still alive but they met their creator personally only before their change. The memories were muddled and probably not just from the change. It was hard to believe but it seemed that all the planning had been done by the leaders and their creator or creators while they were still human. There had been no further contact after they had been changed and the leaders merely followed a pre-learned script. All newer members had been created by them. They didn't posses enough control to change somebody by bite yet so they utilised syringes.

* * *

A research institute of American wizards finally created first two detection nodes (for true undeads). They placed them on two towers in a secret testing area. Theoretically, an ancient vampire passing anywhere near the created field would be detected.

The problem was that they had no way of testing it. The only option was to create some kind of a magical emitter which would mimic the residuum energy from the sarcophagus they had discovered near USS Ohio. Bella agreed to help them with that but it was suspected that only an ancient vampire would be a true test.

Hermione Granger was cooperating on the project and proposed an interesting idea. She wanted to put two nodes on smaller sized Zeppelins and have them flow over Europe. They would have to be constructed with no metal parts to avoid radar detection but that wasn't a problem. It wasn't just a good test, they needed something like that anyway.

* * *

Jasper flew to Britain to visit the two soldiers who had been changed into vampires two years before. With their newborn phase gone, they had started to get themselves under control. After meeting them, Jasper thought they could do with a field test. He discussed it with their commanding officer.

Since he was in neighbourhood, Jasper also visited Siobhan. They were doing well but their cooperation with Brits was only minimal. Maggie was somewhat nervous from the fact that almost everybody who they had talked with was immune to her gift.

* * *

Christmas arrived. Bella had to admit that she was getting used to the tradition. That meant that she didn't mind it as much as before.

Just like the previous year, all the Cullens were going to be at home at Christmas Eve. Charlie was tasked with convincing Andromeda to come over. He succeeded. Both Leah and Jacob asked her whether she wanted either of them to accompany her but she declined.

The atmosphere during the evening wasn't exactly tense but people couldn't stop themselves from discussing everything that was happening. Esme and Rose were analysing Middle East and effects of the situation there on ordinary people. Jasper and some others were talking about Maria. Bella, Andromeda, and the rest were discussing the Romanians and European old pure-blood families.

Charlie got tired of listening to that soon enough and played with Teddy instead. Teddy mimicked Charlie's hair after a while.

"Nice, isn't it?" commented Elizabeth who was observing them.

A murmur was Charlie's only answer. He wasn't as enthusiastic about it as she was.

"Oh come on. Just imagine when he's going to be able to change his face too. I keep telling this to people - such a thing would be great in law enforcement. No more lengthy undercover assignments, no more inside informers. Teddy would just go in, masquerading as one of their own, and he would just arrest everybody at the right moment."

"Or, more likely, his cover would get blown the moment somebody would ask him something."

"Hm, you are right. He would need to be able to access memories of his subject. Provided that the subject would be already arrested and still alive, Teddy could read his mind in real time through some kind of a quantum entanglement device. Like the ones my mum and dad use."

Charlie fell silent for a moment and then commented, "You know, that sounds like something from a movie about an alien takeover of Earth."

* * *

After New Year, Peter and Charlotte reported "intense battles" between Maria and one of the opposing covens. Everybody involved was still careful enough to keep it discreet. The other coven was holding back for some reason.

The battles between Maria and the engaging coven ended with a final clash which resulted in heavy causalities on both sides. The enemy coven pulled back and hid in an abandoned factory in a middle of nowhere. Bella and Edward found out that the other coven intended to finish Maria off.

They checked the weakened one too and discovered that they intended to "recruit" new people. The reason for that wouldn't be so unexpected in a normal situation but it was somewhat unexpected given the circumstances. They were obviously preparing for an upcoming conflict with the other coven. While the two new covens had not been cooperating before, they weren't getting in each others way either. It seemed that this ceasefire was going to be over soon. It raised a question about what was Vladimir and Stefan trying to accomplish.

It was decided not to let the weakened coven replenish its forces. Edward was going to wait in ambush and destroy the recruiter. Because of that, it was decided that something needed to be done with the rest of the coven as well. Jasper relayed Eleazar's concern that they were going to uncover their cards. He argued that it was going to serve the other coven mainly. Alas, he had to admit that they couldn't let them run unchecked either.

He contacted his British friends and asked whether their vampires weren't up for a test of their abilities in a real action. They reviewed details of the situation and agreed.

In the meantime, one of the leaders of the recuperating coven left their hideout to find suitable candidates. Edward followed him. He (Edward) was alone but Alice was watching him.

The two vampire soldiers arrived with a muggle-born wizard who was supposed to keep an eye on them. Bella would find that strange but Jasper was expecting it. They were new after all.

"Your task is very simple," briefed them Jasper. "First, perform quick reconnaissance of the site. We've done that already using telepathy but I want you to do that yourself. It's time to put your superhuman senses to use. Then we shall wait. We don't want to strike too early because it could tip Maria and the other coven off. When the time comes, you'll need to coordinate with a team of drone operators and guide their strike on the building. You've practised this back home with exactly the same drones and a similar system. In the end, move in and finish anybody left. You aren't without backup, of course, but don't rely it. You are expected to do this on your own. And remember, if one of you gets dismembered, the other should pick him up and run."

"What about those who surrender?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Good question. Two original members of the coven are present. Don't bother to take them alive for questioning, torch them on sight. As for everybody else, most of them were criminals during their human lives. But let's say that they deserve a second chance. If they surrender, deprive them of their arms and bring them back."

While the stronger coven was preparing to seek and destroy Maria, the recruiter of the weakened coven entered a bar. It was evening and it was filling with men getting a beer after work. His thoughts showed that he wasn't going to kidnap anybody but rather offer some people a better job.

Suddenly, a draft brought a smell of an unknown vampire to him. It was Edward. The recruiter turned around sharply and saw him entering the bar.

"Good evening," greeted Edward in his perfect Spanish. His demeanour showed non-hostility.

"Who are you?" growled the recruiter in a vampire volume.

"Not your enemy," assured him Edward. "My creator is an old acquittance of your creator. Or his creator, I'm not sure."

That was the moment of truth. The vampire wasn't supposed to know anything about his creator and the phrase wasn't supposed to mean much to him. But if there was some kind of a hidden memory in his brain, he would know that Edward was most probably his enemy.

"What do you want?" he asked instead of fleeing or attacking.

"I've heard that your creator left you and your associates alone," explained Edward and made a step towards him. "I believe that we can help each other."

"What do you know about my creator?"

"That either he or his comrade founded the coven of your allies as well."

The vampire didn't reply. His thoughts betrayed that while he didn't know that for sure, he suspected it.

"I think they merely want to use you to destroy Maria without uncovering themselves."

Taking small steps once in a while, Edward closed the distance between them. He purposefully kept a posture which wasn't good for attacking. That wasn't his intention anyway. At a right moment, he touched the other vampire with a Portkey hidden in his palm.

They appeared in an empty warehouse in a Mexican military base. The vampire jumped away from Edward but was gripped from behind by Bella. A few moments later, the vampire was limbless.

 _"Well done,"_ said Bella through her thoughts.

Edward didn't answer. What he had done was quite underhanded but it was clean at least.

They were joined by Smith. He looked at the vampire and commented that the captive didn't look like changed by a semi-ancient. It probably hadn't been neither Vladimir nor Stefan who changed him.

Bella mind probed the vampire, hoping to find something that she didn't discover before. Alas, last days of his human life were as muddled as before. Probably by some kind of a potion or an amulet and then again by the transformation. Bella couldn't learn anything new.

She decapitated him and nodded at Smith who conjured flames. Edward ran off to join Peter and Charlotte.

The final clash between Maria and the larger coven was near. With the recruiter destroyed, Jasper decided that it was the right time to attack.

The two British vampires established radio connection with a drone base in the States. They observed where the vampires were positioned and led a group of drones to strike exactly at the parts of the factory where the vampires resided. The drones used missiles with incendiary warheads.

They approached the factory from two sides and prepared their .50 calibre revolvers with explosive bullets. Jasper stayed at a vantage spot on a hill. He had a large calibre sniper rifle with armour piercing rounds. He kept looking around for some hidden observer but he didn't discover anybody.

A burning figure emerged from the ruins and was gunned down. It seemed that the attack of the drones had been effective.

It took some time before flames abated. The two soldiers circled around, trying to discover if anybody was trying to escape. They didn't see anybody and found no fresh trails. Finally they entered the ruins and attempted to make a head count.

"Well done," commended Jasper when they returned to him. "Now we need to get out of here. Local authorities will take it from here."

The two vampires were taken by the wizard away to be debriefed. Jasper contacted his superiors who contacted their Mexican counterparts. He ran off to join the others.

In the meantime, Edward, Peter, and Charlotte observed Maria's final stand. They were far, almost out of range of Edward's gift.

"I hope you don't pity her," remarked Charlotte towards Edward.

Edward blew some air from his nose in a sort of a laugh and responded, "This is the point where you tell me that she has innocent blood on her hands. The thing is, so do you."

"And you don't?" prodded Peter.

"Come to think about it, no, actually not. Though I admit that I've recently killed people who were simply at a wrong place at a wrong time but that's hardly unexpected in a war."

They crept a little bit closer. Charlotte unfolded a spyglass and tried to spot something. She wasn't used to such instruments and her eyes kept focussing on imperfections on the lenses. The battle was coming to its end.

"Well, I have to give it her," she commented after some time. "She knows how to go out with a boom."

"What happened?" asked Peter. Charlotte gave him the spyglass.

"She blew herself up along with a bunch of enemies."

"Well, that's one chapter of our lives definitely closed. I didn't believe that she would be capable of something like that."

Maria and her coven were wiped out. Alas, the attackers suffered heavy losses as well. Maria's group had known that they weren't going to be around to burn their enemies so they had done the burning right during the battle.

There were only five vampires left from the attacking coven. Two original ones and three new ones. It seemed like the two groups were in disagreement. The two original ones made the mistake of starting to make plans for a war with the second coven immediately after the battle. At the moment, they weren't aware that the other coven had been destroyed. The newer vampires didn't like the idea of yet another war.

The argument escalated and the oldest of the three newer members proposed that it would be better for them to split away. The older ones responded with threats and were met with the same. In the end, the two groups parted ways.

"Interesting," murmured Edward and contacted Jasper with a quantum entanglement communicator (one of the old ones which had been created by Bella).

"Would you be willing to talk to those three and explain that they made quite a mess?" he asked Peter and Charlotte.

"What about those two?" asked Peter.

"No need to expose ourselves too much. We'll let local wizards to deal with them."

Everybody (with the exception of Peter and Charlotte) returned north for debriefing. They didn't consider the whole operation some resounding success because they weren't sure what exactly was the effect of their actions going to be but their superiors were glad that it was done without any screw-ups.

* * *

Shortly after this "adventure", one of huger banks in USA went bankrupt due to some questionable decisions of its leadership. That meant thousands of employees loosing their jobs, millions of clients loosing their savings, and, of course, all the shareholders loosing their investment but that was not an issue.

Normally, it wouldn't be a such a significant event. Another bank had fallen previous year. And the year before. The problem was that those banks had not been nearly as big as this one.

It was no big surprise when the bank asked for a bailout. That was the moment when goblins got interested in the matter. Their consultants advised the government not to support such a move. After all, it was ill advised to steal money from taxpayers to cover a few gangsters and it would merely encourage other huge banks to rely on bailouts. FED pushed to provide the bailout but their position wasn't as strong and independent as it had been before Voldemort's death.

Feller's former associates expected him to intervene but he was beyond such games. It was doubtful whether the situation was ever brought to his attention by his underlings. In the end, the motion was refused in the congress.

The question remained what to do with the bank. After all, the low ranking employees didn't commit any crimes and many of the clients would be placed in a tough situation if their savings simply vanished.

The entire board was investigated and charges were brought. The chairman vehemently protested this in an interview, claiming that it was a witch hunt and that they were scapegoats. He wasn't wrong. The clients demanded blood and it wasn't a bad idea to satisfy them.

Liquidation needed to be done with care. The actual worth of all the remaining assets of the bank covered less than ten percent of the deposits. One of the goblin banks offered to take over the bank and they started to negotiate conditions.

They offered to retain at least eighty percent of the employees. All the clients were going to be offered a two choices: either close their accounts and walk away with twenty percent of their savings or stay with the new bank in which case their account was going to be gradually fully restored.

No one else offered such generous terms and so the goblins became owners of a corpse of a bank. Some people wondered why were they doing such a thing. They hoped that they merely wanted to enter the market of "modern" banking.

First thing the new "masters" did was filter the employees. They fired anybody who worked with the former owners and anybody who worked for them. There were some exceptions to that rule, of course. The rest was filtered more carefully, based on the level of their participation on the fall of the bank.

Once they were done, the goblins asked themselves how were they going to integrate the bank into their system, especially personnel-vice. In the end they selected a hundred of employees who were either highest ranking or were intended for a promotion. All of these people were summoned to the headquarters of their bank to meet their new owners.

The little crowd was somewhat surprised when they were met by a group of uniforms and suits. One of them called for an attention and explained that they needed to sign NDAs before even laying their eyes on their new bosses. That was met with some rumbling. Somebody jokingly asked whether the new owner was an interplanetary financial syndicate.

"Silence!" barked the speaker. "Unless you realize, you've just been saved from loosing your jobs. If you do not wish to sign, you are free to leave."

He didn't have to add that the penalty for that would be a demotion or cancellation of a promotion. The paperwork was handed out by several agents. People started to read. There were some exclamations about consequences of breaking the NDA (non-lethal and non-damaging measures to prevent one to talk). Some people walked out indeed.

The paperwork was done soon enough and most uniforms and suits left. The people looked at the one who had spoken to them earlier and expected him to explain but he was silent. No one noticed when a one of smaller doors opened and a goblin banker entered. He was flanked by two bodyguards. One of them was a goblin too while the other was human.

Only when the newcomers started to make their way through the people did somebody notice. There were cries of surprise and shock. Most people thought that the two goblins were extraterrestrials.

"Silence!" bellowed the officer again.

The goblin waited for the people to calm down and tried his best not to be offended. He raised his hand to signal that he was about to speak and when there was absolute silence, he spoke, "I understand your agitation. After all, I am the very first banker you have ever seen in your lives."

They all had a long evening ahead of them.

* * *

Andromeda and Elizabeth finished preliminary research and planning of setting alarm wards around the reservation. The main problem was that Andromeda was unable to perform the necessary magic alone. After all, the founders of Hogwarts had to work in concert to create its wards.

They discussed bringing Smith or Hermione in but decided against it in the end. They didn't want any outsiders to have intimate knowledge of the wards. The only help that Andromeda could receive was from the Quileutes and the Cullens. That was quite a dilemma since none of them were spell-casters.

* * *

Harry Clearwater's cardiac problems worsened. It seemed that Andromeda's help had bought him time but the inevitable was going to happen anyway.


	11. Rage

Rage

A month passed. Peter and Charlotte were still helping the remnant of the coven which had destroyed Maria. Their creators had been destroyed by local wizards.

The Cullens were still wondering what had Vladimir and Stefan been trying to accomplish by the whole stunt. The whole conspiracy had been started a long time ago so maybe it had nothing to do with the current situation.

The bank which had been taken over by goblins prospered so far. Strangely enough, not one employee who was on the know attempted to expose the goblins. Perhaps they were all convinced that nobody would believe them.

One day, the Cullens received a secure call from Smith. Almost everybody was present at the time, only Rose and Emmett were away, hunting. Edward called them while Jasper talked to Smith.

"It's Mexico again," opened the wizard.

"What happened?"

"An underground military facility has been overran by newborns. Though overran isn't the right word."

Jasper waited for him to explain. Edward thought that Emmett would remark that such a setting was like from a zombie horror.

"Infestation is more accurate, if you don't mind me saying," continued Smith. "By that, I mean that most vampires involved were actually changed inside there. I don't know any details yet, we've learned about it just now. The report doesn't say much. I bet they don't know much themselves."

"Is the situation contained?"

"Affirmative. All the exits are sealed and guarded. Anybody trying to get out will be burned."

"And now they are asking for our help?"

"Not exactly. We are offering. That is, if you are willing to get involved."

"Depends who's behind this. If this was somehow staged by the Romanians, I'm not willing to walk into a trap."

"I don't think it was," divulged Smith. "I would prefer not to point fingers just yet. We'll know more when we'll get there."

"Very well. Give us twenty minutes to prepare and send somebody to pick our team up at the usual spot."

Emmett and Rose returned. They assembled in the dining room. Elizabeth was sitting aside.

"Very well, all of us are here," started Jasper. "That enables us to be generous and send three people instead of two. I'll be going, since it's my area of expertise. Alice, I need you to stay here and observe us. I wager that a medic will come handy. Edward?"

He nodded. He was a better choice than Carlisle.

"That makes two gifted," continued Jasper. "Bella, I think that you should stay here. If Alice sees something, you are the fastest way to let us know."

Bella didn't argue.

"And I guess we'll need somebody strong. Emmett?"

He nodded. Nobody mentioned Quileutes. It was clear they they were unsuitable for the mission and that their presence would needlessly disrupt Alice's vision. It also went without saying that Carlisle was going to inform them of the situation.

Fawkes didn't show up. It probably meant that the situation wasn't interesting to him.

The trio prepared their weapons and equipment. Asbestos suits were an obvious choice. They took incendiary ammunition mostly but packed up some explosive rounds as well. A few incendiary hand-grenades and under-barrel launcher grenades were an obvious choice as well. They expected to get more supplies later but wanted to have basic gear.

"We should take some plastic explosives as well," proposed Emmett.

"If the Mexican government wanted to blow the place up, they would have done that already," opposed Jasper. In the end, they took two charges, just in case.

John Smith came to collect them personally. They didn't teleport all the way to Mexico afterwards but to an airbase. Representatives of both countries were still discussing the situation. After all, they weren't talking about some rogue coven in a middle of nowhere but about an expansive military installation.

They were joined by an unit of specops. Jasper knew their commander George Powell. The two of them introduced the others. They didn't know whether there was going to be any work for humans but they were prepared for every alternative.

They stocked on grenades. Emmett saw a flame-thrower and wanted to take it along.

"I've got something better for you," told him Smith.

Emmett narrowed his eyes and passed the flame-thrower to Jasper. Both of them followed Smith to a secure storage compartment. An officer punched in a code.

"This is a prototype of a plasma infantry cannon," announced Smith and pointed inside.

Emmett leaned in. There was a big gun inside.

"Go on, take it," prodded Smith. "I'm afraid only a vampire can lift it."

"Oh," understood Emmett and retrieved it.

"What's it called again?" he asked. "Plasma infantry cannon? Can't we come up with a better name which would abbreviate to BFG?"

Jasper shook his head and asked, "Fancy names aside, what is it exactly?"

"It utilizes magic partially," explained Smith. "Thanks to it, it can efficiently contain a small amount of plasma in a magnetic trap. When you press the trigger, some of the plasma is shot forward."

"How many shots does it have?" asked Emmett.

"There's enough plasma for about three. Remember to press the trigger again after last shot in a case there's a little bit more. Also, it can't be in the field for too long or the containment will fail."

"Huh. This all sounds a little bit dangerous."

"If the gun gets damaged, just throw it away. There isn't enough technology in there to steal so we don't need to worry about it falling into wrong hands too much. But if you ever do want to blow it up on purpose, place a couple armour piercing or explosive bullets here." He pointed at a spot on the gun. "We've got some time before the plane's prepared. I'm sure you would like to test it. Come back to refill it when you are done."

The officer nodded at Emmett and asked him to follow him to a range. Jasper decided to accompany them. Edward contacted home to check whether they were still visible to Alice despite the plasma gun.

Their ride rolled out. It was a C-20 VIP jet. Given their cargo and the fact that they weren't needed immediately, it was a better option than a Portkey.

Smith asked a rather strange question when they assembled to embark, "Is there anybody who wishes to stay out of this?"

The soldiers didn't understand. Powell shook his head and ordered his men to get inside. They secured their gear and took off. Once they reached a height for maximum speed, they assembled for some planning. The flight was going to take almost two hours so they had time.

"Very well, there has been some development on the diplomatic field," opened Powell. "It's probable that we shall be going in. That doesn't necessarily mean all of us. Most probably only Mr. Whitlock and his team."

"Excuse me," asked Emmett. "Why don't they simply blow the thing up?"

"That would be very difficult to do and the installation is rather expansive."

"I see. My point is, what if we go in and they change their mind?"

"I would be more concerned about the Romanians," stated Jasper. "It's a perfect place for a trap."

"Well, I don't think they are behind it," disagreed Smith. "I've reviewed all the new information and I don't believe that there's any external force involved at all."

"What do you mean by that?" exclaimed Emmett. "Somebody had to breach the facility and start turning everybody into newborns. I just don't know how did they do it inconspicuously enough for no one to notice anything for three days."

"That's my point. There was no breach."

There was a moment of silence.

"I said before that most of the vampires were changed inside the facility," continued Smith. "What I'm going to say borders with speculation but I would like to correct that 'most' to 'all'."

"Excuse me, it takes three day to change into a vampire," reminded him Emmett. "What was everybody around doing during that time?"

Powell cleared his throat and cautioned, "Now, this is all only a speculation."

"There's nothing which indicates that any vampire entered the facility," maintained Smith. He turned his head to Jasper and asked, "Are you going to find any traces of vampires outside the facility?"

Jasper wasn't pleased that he was calling it out like that. Alice was their greatest secret - only the Denalis and the Quileutes knew about her. Still, it was clearer and clearer with their every exploit that they had somebody like her. He looked at Edward who nodded lightly. There was silence.

"What...?" asked one of the soldiers after a while.

"No, we won't," announced Edward suddenly. "Most probably. But there's a lot of people on the surface."

"Well, let's assume for now that it all happened inside the facility," concluded Smith.

"What kind of facility is that?" asked Emmett.

"A research one."

"I don't know about the rest of you but this stinks to me."

"Yes, and that finally brings me to the point I've raised before we took off," agreed Smith.

The soldiers remembered that he had asked them whether they wanted to back out.

"We don't know what exactly are we going to find and I have a feeling that the people who are talking to our people don't know it either. My point is, we'll need to rely on each other. A lot. Now, joint operations of soldiers, wizards, and vampires aren't anything new. Still, does anybody here has any kind of reservations to working with anybody else here?"

"No," answered Jasper. His ability told him that much.

"Good. It was just a rhetorical question. The thing is, we go into this together and we leave together. Only vampires will go in most probably but the rest of us will have things to do as well."

"Like what?" asked a soldier.

"Like guarding the topside and making sure that our Mexican allies won't do anything idiotic," suggested Powell. "Presenting a united front. And such. If we get a green light, we'll need to set some conditions. If they won't like them, they can incinerate the place for all I care. If they agree, we'll need to be prepared to enforce those conditions."

"Why do I have a feeling like this operation is complicated from a diplomatic point of view?" remarked another soldier.

"It is," confirmed Jasper. "That region was always hot when it came to vampire activity. That used to destabilise bordering states in our country as well. A good cooperation with our neighbours would shift the problem southward."

No one said anything to that. One of the soldiers raised his hand and touched his lower lip with his index finger as he thought about something. He didn't say anything in the end and lowered his hand again.

"So," drawled Smith lazily. "Does anybody want to back out?"

No one said anything. Powell received a message and opened a laptop.

"Finally," he said. "They've sent us construction blueprints of the facility."

"When did they start to build it?" asked somebody.

"More than two years ago."

"Did they know about vampires back then?"

"Most probably," theorized Smith. "Their president had even less contact with wizards than American president or British PM before the Voldemort crisis but I'm sure that they told him about the whole Volturi situation."

They looked at the blueprints.

"Are these accurate?" asked Smith Edward.

There was another period of silence. Some of the soldiers wondered what was that about but they understood that it was probably confidential.

"More or less," answered Edward. He seemed hesitant. "Though we shall notice soon enough that they've made some changes after the rough construction was finished."

"Well, let's get to it," proposed Powell.

They began planning the operation. They discussed all sorts of scenarios and contingencies.

Another message arrived. The Mexican government was asking for help with investigating the situation and rescue of any survivors.

They landed. There was a truck prepared for them.

When they arrived to their destination, they saw that the place was swarming. There were many combatants but even more of logistic personnel. It was logical.

The base itself wasn't very impressive on the surface. Just a fence, a few auxiliary buildings, some guard-posts, a radio tower, and such. The most solid building housed the main entrance to the underground.

Edward swept over it with his gift and attempted to reach underground. He hissed and pulled back.

"What is it?" asked Jasper.

"Something isn't right here."

The others waited for him to continue.

"Their minds aren't coherent. It's a complete chaos."

"Yes, that's normal," commented Jasper.

"No, not like normal newborns. This is even worse."

"Huh," snorted Smith and stroked his chin. He gave Powell a look.

Their driver parked near the building. Smith, Powell, and Jasper went to meet the man in charge. Edward followed them with his gift loosely.

While they were walking, they met a local wizard who was walking in opposite direction. Smith nodded at Jasper who asked for a moment of his time. The wizard wasn't used to talking with vampires but Smith showed him his wand. The wizard understood that Smith probably didn't speak Spanish. After a short exchange, the wizard continued in his walk away from anything electronic (so he could apparate without damaging anything).

"He's not going to stay?" asked Smith.

"No. And he advises us to leave as well. According to him, we ought to let them roll their noses in their mistakes."

"Well, we can't do that. Politics," mused Smith.

They continued to the Mexican officer in charge. They determined quickly that he didn't know much. Powell would be able to tell that even without Jasper's and Smith's abilities.

The commander had never heard about the installation until the previous day. Alas, they had to admit that he had done a great job of sealing all exits. A freight elevator which served as the main entrance was disabled and a blast door on top of the elevator shaft was closed. There were napalm bombs arranged around it. Apart from the main hall with the elevator, the building had a few auxiliary rooms. Guards with flame-throwers were stationed in them and outside the building as well.

There was only one escape shaft. They welded it and barred with iron beams. Once again, men with flame-throwers were guarding it. Apart from that, there was only one auxiliary shaft but it was too narrow for anybody to climb through it.

The three vampires went to search for any scent trails outside of the perimeter and for any secret exits. They also wanted to inspect how solid was the seal on the escape shaft. In the meantime, Powell talked to the commander some more. Smith and Powell's second in command went over available data with an officer which the commander assigned to assist them.

Jasper, Emmett, Smith, and Powell and half of his team assembled in a secluded spot to talk. The rest started to unload their gear from the truck.

"Edward says that our assumption is correct," started Jasper. "No one here knows anything."

"Maybe that's why they have been selected for this duty," theorized Powell.

"And maybe everybody who knows anything is down there," proposed his second in command.

"Well, it's all quite clear," stated Emmett. "They wanted to make their own vampire-corps. They screwed-up royally. End of story."

"As a matter of fact, they did ask for our help in that regard some time ago," divulged Smith. "The idea didn't get far. We explained to them that it isn't so simple."

"I guess somebody decided to try anyway," implied Jasper. "But where did they obtain the venom?"

"It wasn't from the one which I burned because I made sure to do it properly. The wizards who burned those last two have assured me that they were thorough too. Did you personally inspect all the bodies in that abandoned factory?"

"No."

"I guess that explains it," sighed Smith. "They made sure to do their experiments in a contained environment at least."

"There's another thing," announced Jasper. "We can't predict what are we going to encounter."

"Well, of course..." started Smith. Then he understood. "I see. What could it possibly mean?"

"Are we sure that it's vampires down there?"

"What else?"

"I don't know. Something like werewolves."

"That wouldn't make any sense. Ordinary werewolves are useless. And according to all available data, those are vampires down there."

They went over those data. The subterranean part of the facility had gone dark almost two days earlier. Shortly before that, they had requested reinforcements from the surface. After all the combatants from the top had gone down, they had sealed both exits and had commanded anybody left outside to make sure that they stayed that way. They couldn't access the internal surveillance system of the facility so they had no idea what was happening inside. Electricity and everything else had been cut but the facility had got a backup generator.

"I still don't like it," insisted Emmett. "What if these guys won't like what we find down there and decide not to let anybody out?"

"That's why I'm going to create Portkeys which will return you back here," rejoined Smith.

"Yes, we were thinking along those lines," revealed Jasper and pulled out three strange contraptions. Each was made of a single piece of a steel cable woven into some kind of a four legged spider with loops at the end of each leg.

Smith studied them for a moment before he understood their purpose. An user was supposed to put legs and arms into those loops. When activated, the Portkey would teleport the whole user even if he was dismembered.

"It's a kind of a slingshot Portkey with limited range," he explained once he was done. "It can transport more than one person so make sure not to let it fall into wrong hands. Alas, it would be preferable if we maintained control over the situation."

"I agree. That being said, we've prepared another way out for ourselves. But that's truly last resort measure. Or beyond the last, to be precise."

"What?"

Jasper leaned to him and whispered, "Edward has hidden an IR pointer aimed at the escape shaft."

There was no need to explain. A drone could blow the hatch up or damage it enough for the vampires to wrench it open themselves. The problem was that there were soldiers posted next to it who were merely following orders. On the other, if it was merely discovered, they would be able to claim that it was their insurance in case they needed to collapse the shaft.

"Let's hope it won't come to that," avowed Smith.

Jasper, Smith, and Powell returned to the commander afterwards. They confirmed to him that there were no vampires on the surface and that there were no other exits in vicinity. They laid out their conditions. A total control over the main entrance. They were going to work alone or autonomously at least. With a bit of Jasper's influence, the commander agreed. Both sides also agreed on a local officer to be assigned to Powell as an observer.

The Mexicans cleared the building and took their bombs away. The vampires took their place. Before Powell and Smith followed, they told the commander one last thing.

"Now, my friends have noticed that you've noticed that not everything is completely right here," said Powell.

The commander frowned as he pondered his meaning. It was obvious that nothing at all was right.

"If your receive any orders or communiques from your superiors, let us know," continued Powell. "In exchange, we'll keep you posted as well."

The commander still wasn't getting the full message.

"We rely on you to make sure that we aren't disturbed in our work. Even if you receive strange orders from above. If you can't do that, tell us and we'll leave right away. In exchange, we'll keep you updated about everything that we'll find down there."

The commander nodded. Edward noted that he wasn't sure whether he would be able to live to the promise.

With the help of the vampires, all the gear was moved inside in a minute. The observer made the mistake of not averting his eyes while they worked and got a motion sickness. Smith thought about using his magic to fry anything left behind by Mexicans but he saw little point in it. It wasn't like they had anything secret left to say.

The vampires and the soldiers "set up a camp". They installed their own security measures and unpacked terminals of a mobile command centre. The observer joined up with his laptop. They left a man stationed by the main door. They installed heavy machine gun posts.

"Aren't they facing the wrong way?" asked he observer in a good but somewhat wooden English. He was right, half of the posts were oriented away from the elevator.

"That's a standard procedure," assured him Smith. "What if the Romanians or Death Eaters were to suddenly attack? We don't know what happened and who's behind this."

"But we have people out there."

"I sure hope that they can take care of themselves."

They assembled for one last briefing. Powell opened his laptop and displayed the blueprints.

"This elevator should go only to the first floor," he started. "So I guess the first step is to scout the reception area."

Jasper murmured an acknowledgement. Obviously, it meant that the vampires were going to scout it.

"What we do next depends on what's discovered," continued Powell.

Everybody knew what he meant. They had talked about establishing a beachhead in there.

They unblocked the blast door and the vampires pried it open partially. The noise was loud enough to alert any vampires in the first floor. The shaft was empty. The elevator platform was at the bottom. There was another door separating the shaft from the entrance hall. Unlike the one on top, it was vertical, had two parts, and wasn't as thick. It was open partially. Broken light was flickering on the other side.

"Look how the light on the other side is flickering," remarked Emmett. It was like from a horror film. Smith and Powell looked at him with annoyance while Jasper told him to shut up.

A soldier lowered a camera. They looked through the opening. There was some kind of a receiving area. It was an internal security checkpoint which served as an entrance into the rest of the base.

Jasper pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. He put his finger on his lips and said, "Emmett and me will go first." While he was speaking, he wrote, "I smell a fresh vampire scent down there." It wasn't the only thing he smelled.

They attached small cameras on their shoulders. They took only their basic gear and weapons and left the plasma cannon behind for the time being. Two ropes were lowered into the shaft. It was more silent than jumping down.

 _"Well? What about the vampire? Is he still down there?"_ asked Jasper through his mind.

"We don't know," whispered Edward in vampire volume. Alice couldn't see properly.

Jasper rappelled down as quickly as possible. Emmett took his time and inspected the walls of the shaft. Everything was solid, there were no ventilation tunnels nor anything else.

The two of them opened the lower door a little bit more. They didn't see anybody in there and stealthily entered. It looked like they expected. There were two main exits. One was closed while the other was stuck open. The closed one led to a freight elevator which could reach other floors while the open one led further into the first floor. The elevator wasn't the only means to go down, there were supposed to be stairs on the other side of the first floor.

They noticed some differences from the original blueprint. For example, some of secondary exits were missing. It didn't look like a quick wall-off - the walls where doors should have been were as solid as anywhere else. Any smaller exits from the hall led to auxiliary rooms from which it wasn't possible to get anywhere else. There was a security booth on the opposite side from the elevator.

Another thing they noticed were the bodies. It didn't look like there was any kind of an epic last stand but there were several dead soldiers. Jasper wondered whether they were the reinforcements from the surface. Some of them were torn apart. Jasper noticed some of the torn pieces looked like somebody sucked blood out of them. That was disgusting. The vampire who had done that had to be really thirsty to stop caring about decorum in such a way.

Jasper caught faces of some of the victims on his camera and asked Edward by his thoughts to make sure that somebody identified them. The soldiers upstairs made snapshots of each face and sent them to the observing officer.

While he was identifying them, Jasper felt a presence approaching the door which was open. It was just like Edward had said - completely chaotic, incoherent. He tapped Emmett on his shoulder but both of them could hear footsteps already. Emmett raised his rifle. Jasper turned it down with his finger and shook his hand.

Jasper gave his gun to Emmett. The air was still, that played in Jasper's favour. He gestured to Emmett to walk around to attract attention. He himself silently positioned himself in one of the adjacent rooms.

The strange vampire arrived. He wore some kind of a hospital gown. It was stained with blood. Jasper estimated that it was about a day old. The vampire looked like he had been created from an older human who wasn't very healthy.

His behaviour was strange. He didn't even move like a vampire. At first, he merely shuffled through the door. Like a zombie. Suddenly, he accelerated and stopped when he had a clear line of sight on Emmett.

Jasper darted from his hideout and decapitated the vampire. That prevented him from shouting (no lungs). The tearing made noise but Jasper assumed that such a sound was nothing new for the area. Emmett picked the body up so its flailing limbs couldn't reach anything. He carried it to another room and once the door was closed behind him, he deprived the torso of legs and arms.

Jasper noticed something about killing the strange vampire: Its dismemberment bothered him less than killing an animal. That simplified things. He didn't like being in vicinity of any intelligent creatures at the moment of their death but it didn't seem like that was going to be a problem in this case.

Edward lowered down a crate. Emmett put all the pieces in there.

"We should burn this," advised Edward after he pulled the crate back up.

Powell nodded and commanded two men to take the crate outside and burn the pieces. "Don't let anybody stop you," he ordered. "If they try, it will tell us something." The observer said nothing to that.

Edward lowered a flame-thrower, the plasma cannon, and all their other gear down. He himself followed right afterwards. They started a more thorough search of the hall and neighbouring spaces. Emmett had his plasma cannon at the ready. He thought it prudent to empty it early on rather than leave it for later. Moreover, it was relatively silent when compared with normal guns.

The humans in the "base camp" prepared to follow. Powell's second in command and two other soldiers. Per previous agreement, Smith was going to accompany them while Powell was going to stay up.

"Do you wish to join them?" asked Powell the observer. It wasn't a serious question, he was merely taunting him.

"No, I'm supposed to stay with you," he answered.

The three soldiers rappelled down and their comrades lowered their equipment afterwards. Smith walked to the edge of the shaft, draw his wand, and raised his right leg as if we wanted to step into the empty space. Then he changed his mind, holstered his wand, and climbed down using a rope like a normal person.

"It's confirmed," told Edward the soldiers. "Enemy can come only through these two entrances."

They unpacked their gear and set up a minimalistic camp. They had two automated turrets and a machine gun. They positioned the turrets to cover the entrances. The machine gun was placed in front of the elevator (the one to surface). They checked terminals in the security booth. Most of its equipment was damaged but there was a functioning monitor. Alas, it could connect only to cameras in the reception area or in the topside building but those had been disconnected. A soldier was tasked with trying to connect to anything else through it.

After a short consultation with Jasper, it was decided to weld the door of the other elevator. That is, they weren't going to actually weld it but Smith was going to merge the halves of the door together in some places. Unlike welding, it was silent. Jasper had created noise before so it wasn't about stealth. They simply didn't wish to attract attention to the elevator. Jasper, Emmett, and Edward were going to use the stairs to go down.

Jasper and Emmett ventured further into the first floor. They found more bodies. Edward waited behind until the elevator was blocked and then followed. When he rejoined his brothers, he extended his gift forward for a moment. He informed the others that there were two vampires hiding further ahead. Both of them were as incoherent as the first one. Neither of them showed any intention of raising an alarm or fetching help. They had been probably in hearing range when the first one had been destroyed and had been attracted by the noise.

Jasper decided not to flush them out yet and told Edward through his mind to look around first. He himself and Emmett took positions from which they could easily attack the two vampires or intercept them if they attacked first.

Edward searched the area. There were some minor differences from the construction blueprints, just like Alice had predicted. It seemed that the first floor contained mostly offices. There were no laboratories.

 _"Try to dig out something,"_ thought Jasper.

Edward closed himself in an office and called Powell. He told him to make sure that the observer didn't see his camera feed. He turned the camera sideways to be sure.

There were two work stations. Edward opened both computers and saw that there were no hard disks. That was hardly unexpected. He searched the office for anything else. He found some printed pages listing recently delivered supplies. The person who had printed probably hadn't shredded it because the trouble had started. He came to a conclusion that he was in a wrong office and was about to leave when he noticed something. There was a rather large amount of sedatives. He righted his camera and scanned the document.

He searched other offices. Some were smashed, others were intact. He found a body of a dead woman in a white coat. It seemed that she was hiding in the office when a vampire found her and drained her. Edward hoped to find a computer which was left turned on but it seemed that there was some security or economic measure which turned them off after some time.

One of the offices belonged to a psychiatrist. He could tell from magazines in a small library in a corner. It was there where Edward found a first solid piece of intelligence. It was a dossier of a military officer named Rodrigo. It was stored in an unlocked drawer, probably left there by the psychiatrist when the alarm had started. There was a sticker on the folder with a register number so it was probably supposed to be locked up in an archive.

The dossier itself didn't contain anything special. A normal career with no notable events. There was his psychological profile which didn't contain anything unusual either. More interesting were handwritten notes inserted into the folder. Judging by the scent and handwriting, they were composed by the user of the office. There seemed to be two sets of them - older and newer.

The older ones were his semi-official thoughts about Rodrigo and commentaries on sessions with him. It contained references to recordings of those sessions and his official reports. Alas, those were stored on the main server (unless it had been destroyed). On first glance, it didn't seem like there was anything extraordinary about the psychological evaluation of the officer. However, when Edward started to read between the lines, it became apparent that the psychiatrist had certain reservations. It looked like he didn't believe that the subject was completely open with him and that his official conclusions should be taken with a grain of salt. Edward wondered why he hadn't simply put it in the official report. Maybe he had not wanted to leave an electronic trace of his reservations?

The newer set of notes actually consisted of only two papers. Only one of them was finished. What was only insinuated before, was stated clearly in that note. The psychiatrist wrote that it was a gross mistake to select the subject.

The unfinished note contained only two lines. However, its last sentence was properly finished. Edward could see it in his mind. The doctor had been writing. He had noticed that there was disturbance but it had not sounded like anything serious. So he had finished a sentence and put the whole folder away. He had gone to find out what had been going on, expecting to be back soon.

This deduction led Edward to another conclusion. There had been no wide scale alarm probably. Or it had not started with it at least. So what could had possibly happened?

Edward captured basic information about Rodrigo on his camera and asked Powell to find out everything they could about him. He considered searching more offices when Jasper told him through his mind that the two vampires were growing restless. He checked it. Their thoughts didn't tell him much but it seemed that Jasper was right. Edward returned to Jasper.

Edward and Jasper started to walk towards one of the vampires while Emmett went after the other. The vampire smelled Emmett at jumped out of his cover with a snarl. The snarl was almost immediately interrupted when Emmett hit him with plasma right under his neck. It consumed his chest and his lower jaw. Emmett wasted no time and added another shot in his belly. The vampire fell apart.

The other vampire heard the shots but he was preoccupied by approaching Edward and Jasper. That enabled Emmett to flank him and shoot him in his head. Only then he noticed that it was actually her. He pressed the trigger again but nothing came out. Jasper and Edward leapt forward and deprived the body of arms and legs.

"This is ridiculous," commented Powell. "Normal vampires wouldn't let them to get a drop on them like that. Even my men could handle this. Theoretically."

"I doubt that," disagreed Smith on his walkie-talkie. "Humans smell differently and have a heartbeat. My theory is that these creatures would react to our trio only if they represented a possible competition for food or if they somehow irked them."

Edward and Jasper progressed slowly further. Emmett ran back to return the cannon to Smith. Jasper and Edward reached the stairs when Emmett caught up with them. They could hear footsteps and smell both vampires and decaying bodies from below.

"Well?" asked Emmett.

"I guess they know now that something is going on," replied Jasper. "We'll assault. I'll go first, cover my flanks."

He hoisted the flame-thrower and descended. The others followed. The stairs led only to the second floor and didn't continue to third.

 _"I sense two more crazy vampires near ahead,"_ thought Jasper.

Edward merely nodded and pointed in two directions. Jasper grabbed an incendiary grenade from his belt and raised it. Edward prepared one as well. Jasper gestured to Emmett to stay put.

They crept forward and tossed the grenades. The vampires didn't react. Not even when the grenades rolled to their feet. They exploded almost at the same time. Two figures coated in flames started to trash around, screaming in agony. No fire suppression system kicked in. Edward wondered whether it was somehow disconnected.

"It's never pretty when you burn a vampire without dismembering him first," commented Jasper. "Be prepared for opposition from now on. Something in those crazy brains is surely starting to consider us a threat."

They found out that the second floor contained a server room and an auxiliary archive for physical documents. It was the place where the dossier Edward had found in the psychiatrist's office had been taken from. The second floor also contained a backup generator, security centre, and other things. Jasper decided to secure the server room first.

A snarling figure clad in a hospital gown blocked their way. His chin was covered in dried blood. Jasper pressed the trigger of his flame-thrower and the vampire was engulfed in flames. They braced themselves for a possible suicide run but it didn't come. The creature merely started to scream and flail his hands in an attempt to beat the flames down.

They found more soldiers scattered around. They noted that none of the bodies showed any attempts to change them. If the purpose was to create an army, why had the instigators wasted all those people?

They reached the server room and found out that everything in there was smashed. All the staff had been slaughtered. It was unclear whether the servers had been destroyed accidentally by rampaging newborn searching for blood or whether it was done on purpose. They considered salvaging any hard-drives but Edward had another idea.

"Let's check the archive," he whispered.

They destroyed another attacker on their way there.

"How many of them are there?" wondered Emmett.

"I have a feeling that we are going to find out," uttered Jasper.

They had to break into the archive. It was obvious that it wasn't used much and neither the newborns had breached it. Everything had been on the servers, after all.

Edward went straight to a spot where Rodrigo's dossier had been. He checked a folder which was its direct predecessor in the indexing system. It was a medical folder of some insane criminal. Edward noted mentions of a history of drug abuse and attempted escapes from a prison.

Edward returned the folder and checked following ones. More medical folders. Those people weren't criminals but they were all asylum wards. Another trait they had in common was that they had been lobotomised.

"This is insane," exclaimed Emmett. "Why would they change these people?"

"It's not sure whether they did," cautioned Edward.

To be honest, he believed that the only person who had been changed on purpose was Rodrigo. Maybe some guinea pig first. He called the base camp.

"Do you've got anything about Rodrigo yet?" he asked.

"Well, actually not," answered one of Powell's boys. "We asked Mexicans for info and they sent it to us. The problem is, there's nothing extraordinary in it and nothing you don't know already. They did confirm that he was transferred here. We are trying to look for more."

"Maybe you won't find anything more in his career," pondered Edward. "Try to look deeper into his past. His childhood."

"We'll do our best."

Edward contacted Bella and asked her to ask the others to look into it as well. Maybe they could find something that Powell's people would miss.

They checked the security centre next. They found it smashed and burned out. There were charred bodies of soldiers and ashes of a vampire. It seemed like a "successful" last stand.

To get to the third floor, they needed to use either the elevator or a staircase which was next to it. Jasper guessed that there was a special reason for that.

The three vampires discussed shortly whether they should go down or search the floor some more for hiding enemies. Jasper decided quickly to go down. Any vampires on the floor had probably attacked them already and they could afford to let some slip pass them. After all, they weren't janitors and their goal was to stop the people responsible for the outbreak and to search for survivors.

They descended and entered a small antechamber. There was another security checkpoint. People who arrived both by the stairs and the elevator had to go through it to enter the rest of the floor. The checkpoint was smashed. It seemed that newborns didn't care much for protocols. The stairs continued down.

Jasper nodded at Emmett who placed laser triggered mines on the stairs. They wanted to search the floor before continuing to fourth and last floor. Jasper decided to stay back and guard the rear. Edward and Emmett ventured forward.

The third floor housed laboratories. Their noses told them what had been worked with in there - vampire venom. There was none left, everything was thoroughly smashed. Any venom was long dried up and its molecular chains broken.

They found a dead scientist. Somebody had tried to change her by biting but she had been too badly hurt and had lost too much blood to survive the change. Bodies were everywhere. Scientist, soldiers, and other personnel.

Edward found a camera recorder. Any electronic materials were supposed to be stored on the server so the memory card was probably empty. The real question was, had there been enough time to shred the empty space before the outbreak? He removed the memory card, pulled out his palmtop, and connected the card. Everything had been erased, as expected. He searched the empty space for video files.

He ended up with a bunch of chunks. A human would start by piecing them together by the time shown in a corner of the video but vampires had no such need. Edward sent everything he had up and returned with Emmett to Jasper. They played the videos.

The latest one captured the insane inmates when they had been still human. More or less. They were in their cells and weren't moving. The cameramen was baffled. It took a while before Edward and the others understood that they were in an early stage of changing. Their stillness was strange. Maybe it was caused by their lobotomy or maybe they were drugged.

An older video was an interview with Rodrigo. He was human (in the video at least). There wasn't enough material left to determine what was being discussed but Edward guessed it was about his upcoming change.

There was only one chunk of a third and oldest video. It captured the insane criminal which Edward had read about. Judging from the time-stamp, he had been a vampire two weeks ago already. He had been locked in some kind of a cell. It looked strong enough to hold a vampire but the vampire in question had been locked in some kind of a contraption anyway. In the video, he trashed around wildly.

 _"I think we are going to find something about your Rodrigo,"_ told Bella to Edward.

Edward was about to respond when Jasper raised his finger. They heard sounds of enemies approaching from the opposite side of the third floor. Jasper quickly pointed to his mates where he wanted them. He himself with the flame-thrower and Emmett with his machine gun in the centre and Edward on a wing. His task was to flank the attackers if possible.

They appeared soon enough, moving in spurts, like an old film with missing frames (that's how it would appear to a human spectator at least). Like before, they were dressed in soiled hospital gowns and had wild expressions in their faces. Unlike before, they all moved in the same direction which was strange. Jasper and Emmett opened fire. The inmates didn't even bother to evade.

"Jasper," called Edward. "There's one behind them."

 _"One who thinks?"_ thought Jasper.

Edward nodded. Somebody was herding the inmates towards them. Edward crept more to the side and forward. Before the one he talked about arrived, the mines arranged at the stairs exploded.

"I've got it," snapped Jasper and turned around. There was yet another lobotomised vampire, mostly in pieces. Jasper moved in the range in a split of a second and doused him with flames. He heard more from downstairs. He tossed an incendiary grenade there and poured a generous amount of flames from his flame-thrower to dissuade anybody from going up. He turned his attention back to Emmett's side.

A relatively normal vampire arrived to the fray. Being normal meant that he behaved like a typical crazed newborn. On top of that, he actually wore remains of some kind of a straitjacket. The most picturesque thing about him was that he wielded another vampire's arm like a club. Edward recognized him. It was the insane criminal.

Jasper and Emmett went into offensive. Jasper emptied the rest of the tank and switched to an assault rifle. He warily noted that he had started a fire. The suppression system still didn't react.

Edward opened fire on the newborn. Unlike the others, this one actually recognized gunfire as a threat to him and took cover. Edward tossed a grenade. The newborn instinctively exploited the pause to rush him. Edward fired a few more rounds and evaded him at the last moment. He ran back to his comrades, firing over his shoulder.

 _"I'll get him!"_ shouted Emmett at Edward through his mind.

Edward led the newborn straight into Emmett's ambush. He tackled him from a side and deprived him of an arm. The newborn couldn't take as much advantage of his strength with one arm missing. Edward and Jasper destroyed the rest of the other vampires while Emmett took his one apart.

"What's with the arm?" wondered Emmett, examining the limb wielded by the newborn. He decided to keep it, in case they found its owner.

Edward searched around with his gift. It was noticeably lighter around and Bella reported that Alice was able to see them again. In the meantime, they also went ahead and verified the information which Alice had seen them finding.

"Maybe we could hold onto it for the moment," told Edward to Emmett. "Its owner is downstairs. And we know a little bit more about him now. I'm convinced that Rodrigo was behind all of it. Nor we nor his superiors found anything bad in his military records. Alas, looking into his childhood told us a lot about his character. He attended a catholic school when he was little. He was linked to several incidents in there but always as a bystander or as a presumed victim. However, the presumed culprits always marked him as the instigator."

"Let me guess, he was always considered innocent," commented Emmett. "Sounds like a smart kid to me."

"Well, it reminds me of young Tom Riddle a bit," mused Jasper.

"Or of Bella," added Emmett.

"Not quite," disagreed Edward. "Bella would make sure not to get linked to anything at all."

"Very well, let's split," proposed Jasper. "This is drawing to the close so we need to start securing our way out. Two of us will confront Rodrigo. Third will return to the beachhead."

"I'll go up," volunteered Edward. There was no way Emmett would miss it out and Edward could watch the whole thing telepathically.

Jasper took the arm from Emmett and held its frayed end above fire for a few moments. He returned it to Emmett and they descended into the fourth (and last) floor. They encountered no resistance. It was immediately clear what was its main purpose - containment of subjects and inmates. There were rows of cells meant for humans and Jasper was sure that somewhere deeper were cells capable of holding vampires.

In the meantime, Edward joined Smith and the soldiers in the reception area. He checked whether the feeds from shoulder cameras were being recorded. He thought about making sure that the Mexican observer couldn't see them but they weren't playing sound anyway.

Some of the cell doors were ripped open. Emmett peeked in one of them and found a dead scientist. The strange thing was, it seemed like somebody had injected the person with venom first and then somebody else had ripped it apart.

They tracked Rodrigo down soon. He was sitting on some kind of a throne. It was actually an armchair on top of a bunch of rubbish. Just as expected, he was missing an arm. He had red newborn eyes but it seemed that he had been feeding a few days ago too.

He spotted his arm in Emmett's hands and cried out commandingly, "Give it here!"

Emmett was about to give him a nasty retort but Jasper stopped him and answered himself, "We've got some questions first, if you don't mind."

"Give it here!" shrieked Rodrigo. It seemed like he wasn't entirely sane.

 _"Make sure that the Mexican doesn't hear this yet,"_ thought Jasper to Edward. He didn't know what was Rodrigo going to spill.

"Questions first," refused Emmett.

"We'll give you the arm then and you'll tell us anything you are willing to tell. Deal?" added Jasper, playing the good cop. He hit Rodrigo with a wave of amenability.

"Deal," agreed Rodrigo after a while.

"It's simple. What happened here? Who changed you? Who changed all these people?"

Jasper nodded at Emmett who tossed the arm to Rodrigo. He caught it and pressed it to his shoulder immediately. Unfortunately for him, it had been detached for too long and with Jasper's treatment of it, it was going to take a long time for the flesh to grow together. Rodrigo didn't think about licking it first. As it was, both of his arms were either unusable or occupied.

"Go back to stairs, let's not make him jumpy," whispered Jasper.

Emmett didn't like it but he didn't argue. At least he was going to be able to listen.

"Where's he going?" asked Rodrigo.

"Forgive him, you scare him a little," explained Jasper. "The things he has seen here today, he has never seen anything like it before. But I have. Similar things."

Rodrigo grinned viciously. "They planned to keep me locked up," he divulged. Observe me. That's not what I've signed up for."

"True. They were foolish to waste the time when you are at your strongest."

Up in the first floor, Edward leaned to one fo the soldiers and whispered, "The Mexicans must not listen to this. They would think that we are recruiting him."

"Yes, of course," hissed the soldier and returned to observing the feed from Jasper's camera.

"How have you done it?" inquired Jasper, using his gift to make Rodrigo more talkative.

"Gave them no choice," smirked Rodrigo. "The other one escaped. Thanks to me. Arranged for it while I was still human. No one knew it was thanks to me."

"Let me guess. They released you so you could fix the situation. Quietly. So this project wouldn't loose support. Typical bureaucrats, protecting their asses first."

Jasper wondered how had Rodrigo managed to get venom in the inmates. He guessed that it had been through their sustenance. It didn't matter, he learned all he wanted to know. Emmett was in position.

"Now," said Edward in his walkie-talkie. It was addressed to Emmett.

He (Emmett) charged out and opened fire from his machine gun. Rodrigo growled and attempted to cover himself. His arm still wasn't attached. Jasper used the distraction and fired an incendiary grenade from his under-barrel attachment. He wasn't aiming at Rodrigo, he was aiming under his feet. When Rodrigo noticed the approaching grenade, it was too late already.

He roared in pain when he was set on fire. Jasper and Emmett kept peppering him from their guns. Jasper loaded a high explosive grenade and hit Rodrigo square in his chest. Emmett tossed an incendiary grenade.

"He'll burn now," informed them Edward. "Get out of there."

Jasper and Emmett turned and ran. The third floor was on fire. They could hear animal like snarling of vampires cornered by the flames.

The soldiers in the entrance area started to pack their equipment. Edward left the turret guarding the door to the elevator where it was but he deactivated the other one. He planned to leave it behind before the elevator to the surface.

Once Jasper and Emmett arrived, Jasper told Emmett and Edward to return to the surface. He himself stayed behind until everybody was up. They resealed the entrance.

"Is it done?" asked the observer.

"The two original vampires have been destroyed, if that's what you mean," reported Jasper. "There are a couple of feral ones left but those are pretty much harmless."

The officer started to ask why they hadn't finished the job but Jasper wasn't about to explain it twice. He went outside, followed by Powell. The commander of the containment force was waiting for them.

"A fire broke out down there," informed him Jasper. "It seems like your fire suppression system was disconnected by the base personnel before they died. There are some boogies left. If they won't burn or get shredded by our turrets, you won't have any trouble mopping them out."

"What happened down there?" asked the commander.

"Your champion didn't feel like being your champion. Then he was betrayed by his accomplice. But, that's a lot of dirty laundry and I believe that your superiors would prefer to sort through it themselves."

* * *

A week later, all the Cullens (including Elizabeth) and Jacob were sitting in the sitting room of the Cullens' house. Jasper was giving them an update on the aftermath of the Mexican mission.

"They managed to stop the fire from spreading above third floor but the damages were significant," he reported. "Not that it matters much because everything was smashed anyway."

"And the remaining inmates?" asked Carlisle. He didn't say vampires on purpose.

"They managed to neutralize them even without us. Neutralize, not burn to ashes, I suspect. In other words, the Mexican government has more venom in their hands if they ever need it. However, I have my doubts that they would try something like that again any time soon."

"We won't be helping them out again, that's for sure," sneered Emmett.

"No, we won't. If those subjects managed to get out, it wouldn't be such a tragedy anyway."

"Jasper," admonished him Carlisle.

"I mean that there are already a lot of vampires on the surface. Vampires who don't like competition. Somebody would take care of such an outbreak sooner or later."

"What happened on the diplomatic field after your mission?" asked Bella.

"Well, our representatives are rubbing their noses in it. The Mexicans countered by claims that we've used excessive force and started the fire needlessly. They also insinuated that Americans enjoy protection of a sufficient number of vegetarian vampires and a whole tribe of shape-shifters while their people are unprotected."

"And what was the answer?" prodded Rosalie.

"That they can bring any cases of vampire feeding to our attention."

"Now that's an under belt," remarked Edward.

"Why?" asked Jacob.

They explained to him that the Mexicans had no way of telling whether somebody disappeared because a vampire ate him or because he got between two drug cartels. After all, American vampires were using the same tactics when feeding.

"However, I'm confident that the era of newborn wars is over," prophesied Jasper. "At least in Mexico."

They discussed the matter some more. When they concluded their discussion about Mexico and newborns, Bella opened another discussion.

"We've been working with John Smith for some time now. He has seemed like a straight guy so far. Do you agree, Jasper?"

"Quite. He doesn't rush to front lines but he doesn't mind being in second lines. He can be trusted as far as it doesn't clash with his duties and allegiances."

Bella nodded.

"What is this about?" asked Jasper.

"We've been thinking about something for some time now," replied Edward. "Me, Bella, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth has grown and doesn't look like a typical immortal child any more."

Jacob was silent. He had some inkling about what was Edward talking about.

"Surely, you can't be talking about disclosing her existence to the government," stressed Rosalie.

"No, surely not," assured her Edward. "However, keeping this just to us and Quileutes is becoming too risky. Maybe it would be better if certain people knew about her existence. By certain people I mean the Denali and Smith."

"Well, they are our friends and Smith truly seems trustworthy," observed Esme. "However, how do you feel about this, Elizabeth?"

"I've never met any of them," she answered. "Hopefully, Tanya and her sister will notice that I'm not a vampire. As for Smith, we might want him to give us an oath before he sees me. The fact remains that I can't stay hidden forever."

They discussed how to approach the matter and agreed that such a thing shouldn't be rushed.

"Speaking of staying hidden, I've got something to show you," announced Elizabeth afterwards.

She went to a wall and unrolled her sleeve. She put her hand on the wall.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Jacob when her whole forearm coloured like the wall. "You can change you skin colour?" He was thinking about Teddy's ability.

"No," disagreed Bella, whose vampire eyes saw more than Jacob's. "It's a skin-tight camouflage field."

"Indeed," confirmed Elizabeth. "Hopefully, I'll be able to expand it enough to encompass my clothes, gear, and possibly weapons."

"You know how this looks like to me, right?" commented Emmett. "Alas, I don't want to repeat myself." He was referring to the way Bella had dispatched those thugs in Port Angeles years ago.


	12. Disclosures and Attacks

Disclosures and Attacks

Hermione Granger and her team mounted two detection nodes on airships. The idea was to send them across Europe. It worked for as long as the distance between the nodes remained same. If it changed, the link between them had to recalibrated.

The airships were remotely controlled by quantum entanglement modules and their propellers (for manoeuvring) were powered by magical engines which used aviation gasoline and didn't have any metal parts. They were capable of reaching and cruising in an altitude of up to 15 kilometres.

The airships were dispatched and started to fly over Europe in a search pattern. They landed after a few weeks for technical checks, refuelling, and renewal of charms. This went on for some time.

After two months, Hermione received a message that the system picked an echo on an edge of its range. She rushed to the control room and notified her superiors while on the way.

When she arrived, everything was in disarray. People were running around, shouting, making phone calls.

"What's happening?" shed yelled at the closest person.

"Airship two is down. We are turning number one back, if that's all right."

"Yes, yes. Of course."

It took a moment to determine what had happened. By the time the higher-ups arrived, Hermione had a report ready.

"We've analysed images received from the quantum module before the airship was destroyed. This was the attacker."

She showed them a zoomed up snapshot. It was a low quality image. The funny thing was that this low quality manifested itself in a rather unusual way. There was no pixelization for example.

"As you can see, it's a fighter jet. Our experts have determined already that it's MiG-21."

That didn't surprise anybody. MiG-21 was an AK-47 among jet fighters.

Hermione switched to another image. It was more distant (lower zoom) and there was a bright streak across it.

"This is most probably an IR missile. The airship had no metal parts but it still produced heat."

"How did they locate it to begin with in such a case?" asked a general.

"This happened only after we got near the ancient one. Or one of his underlings for that matter. So unless we have a traitor here, logic would suggest that they can feel the nodes. We haven't noticed any mentions of this during our research but that's because we weren't looking for them. The fact remains that the ancient Mesopotamians never tried to hide the nodes and placed them on display instead. Every ziggurat was well protected. Now we know why."

"Where was the echo located?" asked somebody else.

"We don't know, it was too far. The airships would have to pass over the subject for us to determine his exact location. If there were three airships, he would have to be inside the formed triangle. That's why the original network was a network."

A question was raised about the MiG but nobody expected her to have any information. Her department didn't have resources for that.

"It didn't come for the other airship as they probably have no means of locating it now. We haven't heard anything from our sources either."

"Very well. We'll make inquires."

"Perhaps we could ask our Russian friends to investigate," proposed Hermione. "It's in their neighbourhood after all."

"So, the only thing which this whole exercise has achieved was tipping the enemy off that we posses the means to locate him," concluded a general.

"There's one other thing we've achieved," disagreed Hermione. "We know now that the system works. That is, unless it's all some kind of an elaborate deception. Also, we know now that a real vampire has a distinct signature. It's different from our artificial sources which we use for testing."

"I see. He won't be able to fool the system by deploying dummies."

"Or fledglings."

An investigation tracked the MiG to an Ukrainian arms smuggling syndicate connected to a company owned by Vladimir. Not that there was any doubt who had sent it. The pilot was apprehended but it was a dead lead. He had received the orders and the coordinates from his boss who had received them from higher up. That was the point where the trail ended because there was no telling where Vladimir was. There was also no point in paying special interest to either group so the matter was left to local authorities to deal with. The relations between Russia and Ukraine were quite good at the moment so they cooperated quite well.

* * *

A final solution of the new detection network started to take form. After many meetings, it was agreed to build and release four equatorial satellites. There was no special need for them to be geostationary for as long as the nodes remained still relatively to each other. Hence, the satellites could be lower (and thus move faster than the surface under them). Also, the geostationary height was possibly beyond the limits under which the network could detect anything on the surface.

However, the most important and also most vulnerable parts of the system were going to be positioned at the poles. It was intended to place two high altitude balloons carrying nodes above each pole (a primary one and a secondary one). It was still up for debate if there should be any permanent support bases at the poles, how should they look like, and what kind of additional backup measures were going to be installed there (such as other balloons ready to be deployed).

The problem was that in order for the equatorial nodes to "see" the polar ones, those balloons had to be several times higher than what was the world record and almost ten times higher than what was usual (for high altitude balloons). In other words, it was nearly impossible from a scientific standpoint. However, the only other option was to place the equatorial satellites on a higher than geostationary orbit which would most probably render the whole network barely usable.

It was because of this obstacle why the idea of polar nodes was almost scrapped. Many argued that it would be easier to simply add more satellites on other than equatorial orbits. That meant that the satellites would have to keep switching their connections to other satellites. The problem was that the wizards responsible for making the nodes didn't know how to make such a thing work and if it was even possible at all. Moreover, it would never work as well as the original idea. With four equatorial nodes and two polar ones, the entire Earth would be inside an octahedron formed by them which would ensure coverage anywhere on the surface, under it, in the air, and in near space.

Fortunately, magic enabled the positioning of polar nodes to go beyond limits of physics. After all, phoenixes were able to influence weight of influenced objects and many magical spells worked on similar principles. So while they couldn't lower the actual mass of polar nodes, they could make them weight less. When the Cullens discussed it at home, Emmett muttered something about a wizard doing it. In the end, the real question was: How were they going to renew the charms which were going to keep them in the air? Alas, that was a question for another day.

Even with the polar nodes being so high, the equatorial satellites couldn't be on a too low orbit. While they would have clear lines of sight between each other, they wouldn't be able to link with the polar nodes. On the bright side, this meant that they didn't need as many satellites. In fact, three would also suffice but it was argued that more nodes were going to be more accurate.

Obviously, all of that was going to take years to build. The Romanians had to be fought and delayed on all fronts in the meantime. Carlisle, Jasper, and the Denalis cast their nets even wider and started to contact every old friend they knew. The point was to gain informants who would look for signs and whispers of enemy's activities.

* * *

Bella and Edward discussed Elizabeth's education. It wasn't actually a matter of education itself. It was about attending a school and having human interactions with other kids.

Elizabeth was at a level of physical maturity comparable with second graders. The problem was that she wasn't going to stay that way for long. Besides Elizabeth's own preferences, it was yet another reason why there was only one viable option - she was going to attend a school in La Push. It was the only place where her "oddities" weren't going to be a problem. They discussed the matter with their Quileute friends.

Attending a public school, even though it was a Quileute one, represented an unprecedented deviation from their policy to keep Elizabeth's existence a secret. Yes, she was used to moving around the reservation freely but attending classes each day with other kids was something else. Hence, it was decided to go ahead with their plan to disclose the secret to John Smith.

When there was an appropriate opportunity, they invited him to visit them in their house. He found it a little bit unusual. While he visited La Push sometimes, he had been to the Cullens' residence only once to discuss something. There wasn't much reason to visit it otherwise.

When he arrived two weeks later, he was greeted by Carlisle, Esme, Bella, and Edward.

"Do you remember what I said to joint chiefs when I dissuaded them from an idea of creating an army of vampires?" asked Bella.

Smith narrowed his eyes and replied, "I don't remember what exactly was said but I think you implied that there's another species or race capable of fighting vampires."

"Quite."

"So, I presume that you finally wish to disclose this secret to me?" asked Smith.

"That's correct," confirmed Edward. "Of course, a matter of this gravity can't can't be divulged just like that."

"I'm not giving you an unbreakable vow nor anything that would damage my magic, if that's what you're talking about."

"No, something less drastic," agreed Bella. "And limited only to next two years."

They discussed the mater and agreed on what kind of a magical promise was going to be used. They needed somebody magical to accept that promise and they weren't sure whether a vampire was going to cut it. Bella called Jacob's name. He descended from upstairs. Smith was surprised by his presence and wondered whether Bella asked Jacob to be present just so he could accept his promise.

When they were done, Jacob returned upstairs and Bella and Edward started to explain. Smith fully understood when Jacob returned with Elizabeth.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Smith after they assured him that she was really a dhampir. He was so shocked that he swore like a mundane instead of using Merlin's name. "I thought for this whole time that you were talking about another tribe of shape-shifters or a tribe of some alternative magic users. But you were actually talking about your own daughter!"

To be honest, the idea of Bella being a mother shocked him just as much as the idea of dhampirs.

"Why does everybody finds this idea so shocking?" wondered Bella. "I mean, I find it highly improbable that I was the only one to think about this."

"I assure you, as far as I know, no one in the military considered this option," assured her Smith. "Maybe because this isn't something uncommon in non-magical culture. By the way, where did you get this idea?"

"From a computer game."

Smith calmed down a bit and started to talk with Elizabeth. It didn't take long for him to see how smart she was.

"There's a reason why have we told you this," said Edward after some time.

"Yes?"

"We believe that just like the legends about vampires, those about dhampirs should be based on truth."

"You think that there are more out there."

"We've tried to search for them but we don't have sufficient resources for that. If Alice had a rough area at least, she would be able to find them like she found Ohio."

"You want my help in the search."

"The promise should give you enough operational flexibility. Just remember that no one must suspect that there's one right here already. The promise should be a sufficient excuse to deflect any nosy questions."

"What about Eleazar and your other friends? Can't they help? Maybe they've heard something."

"We are considering telling his family. Soon. Disclosing this to any other vampires is out of the question for years to come."

* * *

The Cullens told Tanya and her family about Elizabeth just a month later. They didn't take Elizabeth with them to Denali because they believed that it was better not to overwhelm them. They brought her pictures though.

Their reaction was a little bit less dramatic than Smith's in certain regards and a little bit more in others. Their main concern was whether she could control herself. They assured them that she could and emphasized that she wasn't going to remain a child for much longer.

Eleazar asked whether he should throw some nets to help in the search for more dhampirs but the Cullens didn't consider it a good idea.

* * *

Elizabeth got school supplies for her birthday that year. Jacob himself was entering junior grade. He found it a little weird to still attend high school but Bella and Edward insisted that he shouldn't neglect his education. After all, it was probable that Elizabeth was going to start her higher education at the same time as him.

On the morning of first school day, Jacob arrived in his wolf form to pick Elizabeth up. They ran to La Push together.

They stopped at Blacks' house first. Elizabeth deposited her pistol and an extra clip there.

"Are you actually taking that to school?" asked Elizabeth when she saw Jacob preparing his own pistol.

"It won't be in the school actually but in a magical space pocket," replied Jacob and inserted the gun in a leather case no bigger than a case for glasses. It was just as wide and thick for a gun to be pulled through if there was no bottom. Elizabeth watched the gun disappear.

"You remind me of Mary Poppins," she remarked.

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't have an umbrella."

"Seriously, don't your teachers mind?"

"They are aware that my friends and me are shape-shifters. I think they are more concerned about us changing into giant wolves in a middle of a class."

"And slaughtering everybody like in a B horror flick?"

"No. Disrupting the class."

Elizabeth knew several kids "her age" from La Push but only two of those were in her year. None of the other pupils approached her on first day and most kept their distance for first week. Their curiosity started to win over afterwards and more people started to approach her with all sorts of questions. Elizabeth answered most of them by saying that she wasn't sure if she was allowed to talk about it.

"I can absolutely relate," told her Bella. "I was in Forks high junior grade not so long ago. I was like a shiny new toy. So there - be glad that you aren't attending that school."

"Just give them time to see you as a person, not just a dhampir," advised Edward. "If there are any problems, tell Jacob or us immediately. Also, do not brag about having a gun."

"Yeah, about that," drawled Elizabeth. "They sort of know already. One of my friends mentioned it to others."

"Were they asking you to show it to them?"

"Well, yes. I avoided that by telling them that it was customized for non-humans and that it would be better for them to try one of the many other guns which are lying around La Push."

"I'm sure that merely increased their interest," said Bella. "If they persist, tell them that they need a written permission from their parents and that you can show it only to one person at a time. That should dissuade them."

They all had to agree on one thing though. Thanks to all the fuss about the gun, nobody asked about Elizabeth's telekinetic and other abilities. That was one thing they had to keep secret above all else.

* * *

Siobhan contacted Carlisle and informed him that Stefan had stopped by. Jasper informed Smith and Hermione immediately. Carlisle and Jasper went to Ireland. They met the Irish coven at a pre-agreed location.

"Touch this," said Carlisle and held out a rope.

Jasper was holding at an end already. Siobhan and her coven did as Carlisle asked and they all vanished.

Hermione was waiting for them on the other side. Dealing with a human was a first for Siobhan and her coven. Once Carlisle introduced everybody and explained what was Hermione doing there, Jasper asked Siobhan to tell their story.

"I don't know how he found us," she started. "He had three vampires with him."

"Wild vampires?" asked Jasper. "I mean, like us?"

"Yes," confirmed Siobhan. "However, one of those three seemed more like Stefan and he acted like his associate, not a bodyguard like the other two."

"A first generation wild vampire," observed Hermione. "Possible changed by Stefan himself or Vladimir."

"He was very polite and there were only one more of them than there were of us," continued Siobhan. "However, it was clear that they could destroy us all if he wished. He asked all sorts of questions about the state of things in England. I tried to wish him to leave, in case you were right and I truly had a gift, but it didn't work."

"He's a semi-ancient," soothed her Carlisle. "He's too powerful to be affected by your ability."

"To be honest, I couldn't get a read on him either," agreed Maggie.

"Maybe you are right," conceded Siobhan. "I kept wishing for all of us to get out of it unharmed. And we did. Because we answered all his questions truthfully. They seemed to know that we weren't lying."

"Do you reckon that one of them was a mind reader?" asked Jasper.

"I can't be sure about that," answered Siobhan.

"How did they get here in the first place?" exclaimed Liam.

"It's not like Stefan has the detectable undead aura of true vampires," responded Hermione. "With no way for us to detect him, he could simply come from the sea for example."

Jasper was already contemplating what it all meant for his family. Luckily, they had never told Siobhan where they lived. Still, it would be bad enough if Stefan and Vladimir were aware that their "old friend" Carlisle was their enemy.

Carlisle was more concerned about Siobhan and her coven. He raised a question where were they going to go from that point. It was ill advised for them to return to their previous life - Stefan could return. Hermione promised to set them up. They could use their help after all. Liam wasn't thrilled by that but he had to admit that it was dangerous to remain on their own.

They talked about Stefan's visit in greater detail and analysed what it could all mean.

Back home, Jasper convinced Carlisle to quit his part time job at Forks hospital. It was too exposed, too public.

Some time later, first sign that Jasper's worries (concerning the safety of his family) were not unfounded appeared. It started with kidnapping of one of Eldridge's fledglings. The bizarre thing was that the culprit was a prominent British entrepreneur posing as a client. He was loosely connected to circles of which Feller had been a member. Eldridge's firm took his case in a hope of getting information. The entrepreneur used a slingshot Portkey which beat a jamming amulet worn by the kidnapped lawyer. The question was, what could possibly make the kidnapper to agree to such a suicide mission because there was no doubt that he was torn apart by the kidnapped vampire as soon as they landed, if not sooner.

Hermione met with Eldridge to discuss the situation.

"Let me guess, he himself wasn't that important to warrant this, right?" she observed.

"Affirmative," agreed Eldridge. "We can only assume that this is an attempt to get to me. If they have a strong mind-reader, they will be able to get through his shield."

"What did he know? What was he working on?"

Hermione used past tense, unlike Eldridge. There was no doubt that the vampire was ashes already.

They discussed the matter and came to a conclusion that the fledgling was targeted because of his work on one particular case. It was trial with a Muslim mayor of a small town. He had been impeached some time ago when charges were brought against him for misusing his position for some machinations with land properties owned by the town and selling those to his rich friends from Middle East. The trial garnered some international attention and Eldridge offered services of his firm to make sure that everything was going to go smoothly. The kidnapped vampire was in charge of the case but Eldridge himself was helping him.

"I guess I'll have to take it myself," mused Eldridge.

"Is that wise? You can give it to somebody else."

"Not enough time. I was the only other person familiar with the case."

"I see. I guess you are going to tell me next that it's really that important and that we can't use magic to influence the judge because then it would look like he or she is bribed."

"Correct. If we loose this, not only is he going to run free but the government will have to pay him a lot of money. Alas, the most important thing is that I'm like hitman. Once I receive a contract I need to fulfil it without any regards to circumstances."

The Cullens were briefed about the situation. Bella voice an idea that maybe she should go there and help guard Eldridge. She meant just herself but Jasper was against it anyway. He was still convinced that the whole thing was just a plot to draw people connected to Eldridge out. After all, the semi-ancient vampire and his role in the new establishment was well known both in the wizarding and vampiric world.

In the end, Jasper let Bella to convince him that she could be near the area as a backup at least. He insisted on coming with her though. Everybody else was staying at home.

Jasper and Bella met with Eldridge and Hermione and her team for a final briefing before the "operation". Hermione had been planning it for some time but she had revealed the plan to few people till then.

The trial was conducted in a detached building which was fully warded. Obviously, they also examined whether somebody had not created a slingshot Portkey in there. No electronics were allowed, under a guise that they could interfere with security equipment. It was stated that the authorities had reasons to believe that there was going to be a terrorist attack. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to have the trial without any audience.

Additional guards were added to the security of the court. There was a full protection detail (including one of "Jasper's" vampire soldiers) with Eldridge. He was given an emergency Portkey which would take him to Hermione if used. The witch herself and her team assumed a position in a nearby house. Bella and Jasper were waiting in backup in yet another house further away. Hermione exploited their presence by posting some more troops and a few observers with them.

The court room opened. The ex-mayor arrived in a limo. He was flanked by an entourage of lawyers. Press was present and eager for a statement. All the reporters were aware of the restrictions so they intercepted the ex-mayor outside of the perimeter to ask questions. Only old analogue cameras were allowed inside. Most guests complained about all the extra security but they were told that they could leave if they wished so.

The trial progressed exactly as Eldridge predicted and he had no problem to dominate the scene. Alas, the trial didn't get very far.

Ten minutes after it started, one of the guests drew a ceramic knife (a metal one wouldn't get in). Both vampires noticed it a split of a second after it left its cover. However, they didn't do anything. It was just a knife and the humans were capable of resolving the matter without either of them exposing his superhuman nature. They relaxed when the man turned the knife against himself.

The disturber plunged the blade into his own heart before any human could react. While the soldier dismissed the whole thing immediately as unrelated to the Romanians, Eldridge started to think. Maybe if he wasn't semi-ancient, he would see through the whole thing in time. As it was, he didn't get it until his senses told him that the knife was magical and that it activated.

It was the same trick again. The knife had been magically inactive. It took a sacrifice of blood to charge it up. Ancient vampire magic. Eldridge activated his Portkey a fraction of a moment after a large bomb arrived to the courtroom by its own Portkey.

At the sound of an explosion, Bella made a move towards a door out but Jasper grasped her elbow to prevent her from doing something "stupid". At the same time, a ball of fire was brought by a Portkey to Hermione's hideout. She thought that it was some kind of an attack at first but then she recognized that it was a burning person. She doused it with water.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't such a good idea. The water extinguished the flames but also washed away any venom seeping from Eldridge's flesh. Depriving the fire of oxygen would have been better. The flames died out and revealed Eldridge. Charred, but alive.

"We are staying put, in case there are secondary attacks," called Jasper.

"Affirm," confirmed Hermione. She had enough wherewithal not to be shocked.

Next few hours were filled with a frantic struggle to provide "medical care" to Eldridge and to find out what had happened. The former included calling Carlisle in and the latter included getting a statement from Eldridge himself.

The semi-ancient vampire was laid in a tub and submerged in a mixture of donated blood and venom (donated by his fledglings). It wasn't entirely sure if the venom was going to help, considering that it was of lower potency. When Carlisle arrived, he couldn't think of anything more to do.

Hermione got Eldridge's statement and her team investigated the area and remains of the knife and the Portkey. She returned to Eldridge a few hours later.

"Well?" wheezed the old vampire when his face broke the surface of the liquid.

"A reverse slingshot Portkey," she divulged. "Instead of going back to a place of creation, it went to a mobile anchor when it was activated. And we didn't detect it when it was brought in because it was wasn't magical then."

"Romanians," observed Eldridge in a weak voice. "No doubt about that."

"Indeed. On another note, I have talked to doctor Cullen. I believe I should tell you that the fire caused superficial but extensive damage. And since your body can't grow new cells..."

"Yes, I'm quite aware of what the limitations of my physiology are," interrupted Eldridge. "Tell me what's your public story."

"A terrorist attack carried out by accomplices of the mayor."

"And how have they managed to get the bomb inside?"

"Their non-essential organs, such as liver and kidneys, have been removed and replaced by explosives."

"Devious."

"And it's true on top. Just not the whole truth."

* * *

The whole incident was a harsh reminder for the Cullen family how vulnerable they were. While it was clear that it had nothing to do with them, Jasper reacted by proposing more security measures.

Carlisle didn't work at the hospital any more and neither the others had any duties which required them to interact with civilians on regular basis. Hence they didn't face the same risks as Eldridge and his vampires. Still, Jasper believed that they should carry some kind of a protection against "Portkey-napping".

A usual anti-teleportation amulet didn't do any good to Eldridge's employee. Carrying their own (standard) Portkeys wasn't an ideal solution either for various reasons (e.g. the target area being warded). However, Bella had an interesting idea. What if somebody had a special Portkey capable of activating whilst in transit by another Portkey? A human wouldn't be able to exploit such a thing (unless it was somehow automated) but a vampire would. They discussed the idea with Hermione and she promised to try to create such a thing.

Andromeda and Elizabeth kept working on their warding project. They had tried to exploit the wolves, both shifting and retired. Alas, it seemed that their magical abilities were completely atrophied. None of them were capable of anything which their ancestors could do. Maybe it was caused by centuries of disuse, maybe it was the price for turning the curse of lycanthropy into a blessing.

Bella was next natural adept. She had been a witch after all. Unfortunately, that proved another dead end. There was nothing she could do to help her aunt. Maybe it was the incompatibility of their magical energies, maybe it was Bella's limited ability to project her magic.

In the end, there was only one option left - Elizabeth. She wasn't a witch but it seemed that her magic could work with Andromeda's. However, she was nowhere near prepared for such a thing yet.

* * *

The military set up a base at the edge of the reservation. It's main purpose was training of new recruits but they planned for it to house mind-control terminals for drones in future as well.

Another big change was bringing the Makah tribe "in" on what was happening. It was necessity because Quileutes had blood relatives in there. After all, Emily was from the Makah reservation.

* * *

John Smith sent Jasper a first batch of various records from various magical authorities concerning magical creatures and incidents with them. The Cullens went through them carefully but nothing of consequence was discovered.

* * *

Hermione and her team researched the project of super-high-altitude balloons in parallel with their colleagues over the pond. Usage of ultra-light materials created by magic and weight-reducing enchantments was an obvious must. The question was whether usage of a balloon at such a height was even worth a contemplation.

Hermione came with an idea of "transfiguring" atoms of hydrogen so they would have larger electron cloud. It was a principle similar to conjuration, where manipulation of electrons could cause temporary change of characteristics of atoms (with the exception of weight) as if they were another element. The result could create a superior lifting gas.

The question was, even if such a thing could be made to work, how were they going to supply it with enough magical energy to keep all the enchantments active?

* * *

Harry Clearwater had a heart attack. He died in his sleep. The good thing was that his friends and family had been given enough time to come to terms with his inevitable passing.


	13. Reminiscence and Christmas

Reminiscence and Christmas

Billy and Charlie were on a boat, fishing in a middle of a lake. It was several weeks after Harry's funeral. It was also first time they went fishing since then. They were silent for a long time.

Billy cleared his throat and it appeared that he had something to say. Charlie waited for him to speak up.

"Charlie?" he said finally.

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking after Harry, you know. About things and such."

Charlie remained silent. He believed that Billy was about to start a conversation about their deceased fried. However, Billy was about to surprise him.

"Do you ever think about them?"

"Who?"

"You know, Renee and the little one."

That stumped Charlie momentarily. Billy was talking about his biological daughter who had died before even being born. Renee had died some time later in a car crash.

"To tell the truth, just bits and pieces from our marriage before it all went sour. I prefer to focus on the present and what I have now."

"I was just thinking that if you ever wanted to talk about it..."

"I think I would have lost them both anyway. Renee didn't like it here much."

"And you had your parents to take care of."

"Right."

There was another moment of silence.

"I don't even want to imagine how would Isabella do with all this craziness around."

"Well, maybe she would be naturally resilient to craziness, thanks to her mother. And she would posses moral integrity thanks to you. I don't think she would be too bad."

"She would never learn about any of this probably. We wouldn't learn about it."

"Well, she would be probably friends with Jacob and Leah. I think she would notice them burning up all the time."

Passing of loved ones makes people think about strangest of things.

* * *

Hermione and a few of her co-workers visited a laboratory of their American colleagues. They prepared a low pressure test chamber. Hermione extracted some hydrogen from a canister of ordinary water and enchanted it. A balloon filled with the resulting gas floated around the test chamber even though the pressure in there was same as at the height they wanted to achieve.

"This is far as we can take it and remain practical," commented Hermione. "It can be made even lighter but energy requirements go up exponentially from this point on."

"Can it lift the required payload?" asked an engineer.

Even with weight reducing charms, the whole thing was still going to weigh something - especially without a pressure of one atmosphere lifting it up. Moreover, some of the parts couldn't be enchanted because it would interfere with other magic placed on them.

"It will be close, but yes, we believe so," answered Hermione.

"Some of us have come up with an alternative," divulged an American wizard. "Do you know what's lighter than hydrogen?"

"Vacuum."

"Exactly. Imagine a sphere with an unbreakable charm on it. There's vacuum inside but it won't implode."

"Then you'll still have the weight of the sphere to deal with. It might be better to use some kind of a reversed bubble spell."

Everybody agreed that it was a matter of what required less magic. They talked about possible ways of keeping all the magical enchantments active up there.

* * *

Bombs fell on a den of a vampire coven. Some bombs were ordinary, some were incendiary.

Bella watched a wing of Israeli F-16s fly away. She left her hideout and ran to inspect the target area. It was noon but she had a sunscreen on. She and Jacob had to work quickly and leave Gaza as soon as possible. Palestinian camera crews were on their way already.

Fortunately, there was nothing left to be done. No vampires made it out alive. And no one was going to find the bombing out of ordinary, with so many of them taking place there lately. She took her walkie talkie and contacted Jacob.

"We are done here. Meet me at the rendezvous point."

Jacob was in his human form so he could answer verbally.

"Yeah, about that," he replied. "I'm kind of lost."

"What?!"

"This dam sun is right above my head. I can't tell where south is. Or north for that matter. And it's hot here."

"You have to be kidding me. You didn't bring a compass?"

"There are some weird people looking at me in a funny way. Maybe they think that it was me who dropped those bombs. And I don't even have a gun on me."

"You have let them see you? Don't engage anybody! That would be a major diplomatic screw up! They won't attack anyway. Maybe. You don't look Semitic but you are still coloured and all."

"Don't be a racist."

"You are racist. Now try to loose them, I'm coming for you."

Bella had to admit, it was quite difficult for non-local non-vampires to orient themselves in the area. She ran in Jacob's direction.

She found him running through back alleys between some ruined buildings. She wasn't sure whether they had been ruined after or during their construction.

"Follow me!" she ordered. "We'll be late for our pick-up."

Jacob didn't answer. He was starting to feel dehydrated. He had drunk his little bottle of mineral water ages before.

Bella called their extraction. Sure, it was possible for her to wait till dusk and then simply run out of the area. Alas, it wasn't such a good option for Jacob.

They reached the agreed place and a run down car arrived to pick them up. The Shin Bet agent who was driving didn't comment on their tardiness. Improvising and not sticking to a plan was a second nature to him and his fellow countrymen.

"Do you've got some water here?" asked Jacob hoarsely when they were on their way.

The Jew pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. Jacob found a half-empty bottle. He opened it and started to drink greedily.

A teenage boy stepped in front of them. It seemed that he was intent on standing right in the middle of the road and letting them to run him over. Either that or he expected them to stop. There wasn't enough space to avoid him.

"Do you want me to drive?" asked Bella.

The driver shifted to a lower gear and stepped on the pedal. The car roared and continued forward at the same speed. Jacob spilled some water on himself accidentally. At the last moment, the boy jumped away.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Jacob.

Neither the agent nor Bella commented. They entered Israel in several minutes. A half an hour later, they met a colonel who was in charge of the whole joint operation for a debriefing.

"I believe we can call this a resounding success," stated Bella. "Not because the hostile vampires have been destroyed but because you didn't need us for that. Also, you have used conventional weaponry only. No specialized or magical equipment."

"There's a flaw in your logic," disagreed the colonel. "We wouldn't attack if you weren't here as a backup. There was too much risk of some of them getting out of there alive and seeking revenge."

"You can create your own vampires, if that's what you are worried about. You've got the venom."

"And what if the Romanians respond by turning a lot of wrong people into vampires?" argued the colonel. "Such a tactic would be more effective here than in Europe or America."

Jacob couldn't agree more. It would lead to an escalation in terms of vampire population.

"And that leads me to a question," continued the colonel. "Is it true that you have spoken once about some alternative to vampires?"

Jacob narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know about that?" asked Bella. "Actually, it doesn't matter. The sole fact that you've learned about it confirms that my refusal to share any concrete information was justified."

"Very well, keep your secrets," replied the colonel.

He turned to Jacob and told him, "I've been thinking about another option. Shape-shifters."

Jacob shook his head and answered, "There's only enough of us to cover North America. Plus, I don't think that we would do well in this climate."

"As I've thought. There is another way though. Would you and your fellow wolves consider... donating a few samples?"

To his credit, Jacob was stumped only momentarily. That was one forward question.

"No, I don't think so. Plus, maybe it isn't that simple."

"What are you going to do with all that venom you've got?" asked Bella, trying to get Jacob out of the uncomfortable conversation.

"Don't worry, we aren't trying to modify it."

"Do you intend to use it on animals?"

"No."

Bella wasn't trying to read his mind but she caught a hidden meaning behind the answer. They didn't intend to use the venom on anything organic. That was strange.

"Well, it's none of our business," she concluded.

* * *

Hermione attempted to open an e-mail from Jasper but its decryption failed. She furrowed her eyebrows. That could mean only one thing. She used another decryption, a one they had not used for a long time because they were using it only for one specific purpose.

After reading the message, Hermione met with Ginny and told her that she needed to leave for a few days. She couldn't go alone so she called SIS. They assigned her an agent she had been working with before.

"I hope you didn't intend us to pose as a brother and sister," said the agent one their way to an airport and handed her a "fake" passport. "We have completely unrelated identities."

"Of course not, we don't look anything alike," replied Hermione. "There's no need for an elaborate cover story, an outer appearance will be enough. A couple, let's say. Nothing serious though."

"Very well. And why exactly are we travelling to Australia?"

Hermione misunderstood the question and pondered for a moment whether she should tell him. Then again, there was no reason not to do that at that point.

"We'll be meeting my parents," she told him.

"You said that it wasn't serious."

"No, for real. I need to go there because of my parents. It's possible that their cover is compromised."

Their flight itinerary had one stop. The first leg was uneventful. The agent spotted a suspicious man on the second. He didn't look like a dark wizard, quite the opposite, but the agent pointed him out to Hermione who scanned his thoughts at a first opportunity.

"You can relax," she said. "He fantasizes about blowing the plane up, yes, but he has no means to do so. Moreover, he is way too attached to his own life."

"Forget about him? Are you serious? We're putting him on a watch list."

The agent raised his hand to his glasses and snapped a picture of the wannabe terrorist.

"Just like that?" commented Hermione. "On my say so?"

"Well, if you are willing to make a formal testimony later, we can put him on a no-fly list as well."

"I didn't know you needed a formal testimony for that."

"We don't."

When they disembarked in Sydney, an older man was waiting for them. It was a private detective working for Jasper. They exchanged secret phrases. They got in his car and rode off to his flat which was nearby Hermione's parents' place.

"You've reported that they are starting to remember," prodded Hermione during the ride.

The detective glanced away from the road momentarily and nodded at her. "If I understand correctly," he started to explain. "Their memories of their past lives have been suppressed by some kind of a therapy. Right?"

"Something like that."

"Well, I've been told to look for and report any change of their behavioural patterns. Long story short, I think it's wearing off. At least partially."

"I see."

There was a moment of silence.

"Are they some kind of sleeper agents?" asked the detective.

"No, they are my parents."

They arrived to his flat and went over the materials he had collected. Hermione secretly spied on her parents next day. They had spells of anxiety and preoccupation. Sometimes they talked about it. One person would dismiss any phantom memories but Hermione's parents could share those glimpses. There was no denying it, their memory suppression had holes in it.

"What are you going to do?" asked the agent.

Since he was asking, Hermione decided to vocalize her thoughts.

"Well, there are only two options. Two directions," she contemplated. "Either forward or backward. It all depends on how are they going to react when they see me."

It occurred to her that they might have a bad reaction and might need a mind healer. She wrote a quick e-mail to Ginny. Then she went to meet her parents.

* * *

"Hermione Granger met with her parents after my report," reported Jasper during a Cullen family meeting. "They are back in Britain now, recovering their memory. In other words, our involvement in the matter is concluded."

"It was callous of her," commented Esme. "I do understand why she had to hide them away in the first place but she should have collected them right after the war. Maybe there won't be any brain damage but their memories are completely confused now."

"Well, at least Jasper was making sure that they were all right," concluded Carlisle.

The meeting continued with Bella's reiteration of what she had accidentally gleamed from the mind of the Israeli colonel. She had mentioned it to Carlisle before so he had some time to think about it.

"Is it possible to imbue an artificial material with venom?" asked Jasper.

"Well, we know from goblins that it is possible," reminded him Carlisle. "But I guess you are thinking about some non-magical synthetic weave."

"You mean like some kind of a Frankenstein monster improved by our venom?" asked Rosalie, appalled.

"More like a robot with an alternative motor system," theorized Carlisle. "I've read a theoretical article about creating a synthetic material which could function like a muscle. It's all a theory but if it was organic enough, then it could possibly react to venom." That wasn't all he saw in the technology. As a matter of fact, his first thoughts had gone to medical applications but it was premature to talk about it.

"It doesn't have to be a muscle," responded Jasper. "Imagine a tank improved by a layer of vampiric armour."

"Or you could combine the two and create some kind of a vampiric suit," proposed Bella. "It would mostly eliminate any need to turn soldiers into vampires. You just need to make sure that the suit won't try to merge with a soldier inside."

"You know, this all supports my theory," stated Emmett. "What if this was the original usage of the venom? Imagine an alien vessel landing in the ancient Mesopotamia for some reason. Some venom leaks from its hull before it leaves again. Necromancers collect the venom and use it as one of the components for creation of first vampires."

"Once again, your theory is impossible to disprove," dead-panned Edward. "Incidentally, it's also impossible to prove."

"I don't need to prove it, I'm perfectly OK with just believing in it."

Bella cleared her throat and spoke, "Let's not digress. I have some news from La Push. Or from the Makah reservation to be correct. As you know, they've been testing young people over there."

"Testing? How?" asked Emmett, who had not heard the details yet.

"Smith found a ghost capable and willing to accompany him there and they just walked around," explained Bella. "If anybody starts freaking out suddenly... You get the picture. It didn't take too long to find somebody. The subject doesn't actually have the twenty-fourth chromosome nor is he magical. He's basically a squib, from a genetic point of view, but it's a start."

They discussed the topic some more and then moved to other things such as the progress of the work on the satellite network for detecting true vampires.

* * *

Carlisle and Hermione met with Eldridge. The ancient vampire's face had remained unchanged ever since his injuries had "healed". He had looked ghastly before but currently, he looked like a ghastly old man who went through fire.

"What is this about?" he asked.

"I've been thinking about your injuries," opened Carlisle.

Eldridge made no response and waited for the doctor to continue.

"I've been thinking about ways to heal them. I've come to a conclusion that true regeneration of tissue is impossible for you and most probably neither for us."

"Yes, for the same reason why children turned into vampires can never grow up," interrupted him Eldridge.

"Exactly. A cell changed by a venom can't grow and split into two," remarked Hermione needlessly.

"Hence, I started to think more in terms of a reconstruction," continued Carlisle, finally getting to the point.

"I'm listening," encouraged Eldridge.

"I believe that we can develop a synthetic tissue and graft it onto a vampire. The tissue will become saturated by the vampire's own venom and solidify. Of course, what would work for us wouldn't work for you and vice versa."

"So, you are proposing something like a mask," observed Eldridge. "How is that different from a mask made of rubber?"

"Well, it would be a part of you."

"I don't see how's that going to be beneficial. I'm sure it won't look natural. Not that I have ever looked natural to begin with. To be honest, I have a silver mask made for me already. I look quite regal in it. And it's all a perfect cover for my unnatural appearance so public appearances will be a less of a problem than ever before."

"Well, you've got a point," admitted Hermione.

"However, do keep researching this technology," proposed Eldridge. "If perfected, it could be used for treating of grievous injuries. However, do not let it fall into wrong hands - I'm sure you can see a number of military applications as well."

"Yes," agreed Hermione. "Like an army of newborns with a synthetic layer on top of their flesh acting as an armour. We don't want the Romanians to start creating such abominations."

* * *

First two prototypes of orbital nodes (for detection of true vampires) were finished. They weren't "flyable" satellites yet - their purpose was to test their main function and their remote control.

While the project was in Hermione's department, she wasn't its hands-on leader. Hence, it wasn't her who presented the prototypes to a committee when it was time.

The demonstration went smoothly and the project continued towards its next goal - the polar nodes.

* * *

A yet another year was about to come to its end. The Cullens thought about how should they approach the Christmas festivities. The circumstances were convenient so they thought: "Why can't we have Christmas where we would all be together?" And by "we" they meant everybody who was a family (though some of those didn't think of the Cullens that way).

Jasper had certain concerns about such an event. Concentrating too many important people at one place represented a certain security risk. Once Andromeda confirmed her attendance, he talked to her about placing some extra protection around the house. That meant an electrical black-out but that wasn't a problem.

Sue Clearwater wasn't sure about coming. It felt too soon after Harry's death to her. Alas, Teddy was going to be there and both Leah and Seth wanted to come.

All the Blacks were invited, including Rebecca's whole family. Her Samoan husband no longer contemplated returning to Hawaii because the children considered La Push their home. Paul had certain concerns about spending an evening near so many vampires because of a possibility of his ageing getting arrested. Alas, everything they knew indicated that it was the shape-shifting which was causing longevity, not vampires.

Inviting the Denalis was considered. However, they had their own crowd to celebrate Christmas with. Tanya even told them that John Smith was going to visit their party that year.

All in all, there was going to be quite a crowd of humans that year with the Cullens. Bella, as the youngest vampire among them, was tasked with cooking. She requisitioned Charlie's help for tasting and smelling. As a result, Charlie was already full before the evening even began.

The guests arrived group by group. Jasper was in full security mode and asked Andromeda as soon as she arrived to check the wards with him one last time. That is, she was doing the checking, he merely accompanied her. Elizabeth joined them.

Andromeda seemed occupied during the walk so Jasper asked Elizabeth how were their plans for wards around La Push progressing even though he could have asked her that any time he wanted before then. Elizabeth sheepishly answered that Andromeda was going to have alarms done soon enough. She was usually quite reserved not only with her thoughts (guidance of her mother) but also with her emotions (also guidance of her mother). However, Jasper couldn't but notice from a tiny slip of Elizabeth's emotions that she was playing somewhat larger role in that project. Strictly speaking, it wasn't any of his business so he didn't pry. Although, he had a feeling that her parents knew more.

Soon enough, everybody was there. As they mingled, they did their best not to talk about politics (unlike previous year). Children were aside from the others. Elizabeth was among them. It was good for her to be among her peers rather then among the adults. Seth opted to join them, no big surprise there. Both Leah and Jacob considered sticking to their imprints but decided against it in the end.

Time to have dinner arrived. Carlisle had a new version of a space drink for vampires from NASA. It looked like warm honey both in colour and consistency which by itself was an improvement from previous version.

Everybody else was served a soup made from fish heads. They ate them with white bread rolls chopped into cubes and roasted to crunchiness. Charlie had only one scoop with no cubes.

The adults knew why he didn't eat much but one of the children whispered to his neighbour, "Why isn't he eating?"

"He's saving space for treats," whispered the other child back.

Every non-human heard that.

"Nope," denied Bella. "He's saving space for wine. Treats are only for those who eat their soup and the main course."

Various fresh water fishes with potato salad were for the main course. Somebody asked Bella what prompted her choice.

"Well, you do remember the guns which we started with, right?" explained Bella. "The ones which were all replicated from one original piece. I was on Internet some time ago and I thought to check what kind of new models are produced by that company today."

"What do you mean, you were on Internet?" asked Jacob. "Did you upload your conscience in there?" He meant it ironically. Somehow, he couldn't quite imagine Bella using a computer.

"No, I was browsing web pages. And yes, I can do that. Anyway, I managed to click my way to Christmas customs of that country somehow. I'm not sure how I did it. Metaphorically speaking."

Carlisle chuckled and asked, "So, do they eat fish at Christmas Eve?"

"Carp, to be specific."

"Carp?" exclaimed Billy. "Why, when there are so many better options?"

"Tradition, I guess. We have agreed with Charlie to go with other kinds of fish. I stuck with fresh water ones though. It kind of fits better to Christmas in my opinion."

"Oh my, is it just me or is Bella finally getting into the idea Christmas?" joked Emmett.

"No," denied Bella. "However, I do recognise importance of team-buildings such as this one."

"We are a team?" nabbed Andromeda before she remembered who was helping her with the wards.

They finished the dinner and Edward and Jasper put the dishes away. Bottles of wine (for adults) and butter-beer (for children) were opened. Andromeda had only a sip. As a sole wand-waver around, she wanted to retain clear mind. The wolves were unaffected by wine but they had no special taste for it either. All the remaining human adults drank only sparsely in the light of that. The children couldn't wait for their stomachs to process the food and make space for Christmas treats.

"Excuse me," called Carlisle for attention after a while. "I know that we don't want to talk about politics right now but if you want, we can watch Queen Elizabeth's Christmas speech. It won't be broadcast for a few more hours but Hermione managed to secure it for us."

"How?" asked Billy. "I thought that the electricity didn't work here today."

"It needed to be shown to some wizards so it's available in this format," explained Carlisle and held up some kind of a crystal.

Emmett installed an old projection screen and Andromeda set up some kind of gadget. It was basically a projector. Carlisle put the crystal in there.

"Watch for small hints in there," he advised as Andromeda started the video.

The queen revisited the theme of her speech from two years before, which had been only slightly touched previous Christmas. Hermione and the queen's advisers probably thought that it was prudent considering the attack on Eldridge. Alas, there was something profoundly different. There were no empty statements and encouragements. On the other hand, the speech was far more confusing and full of unclear hints about how there was more to British people and the entire humanity than most thought. With a lot of imagination, a non-magical person could think that it was a challenge for patriots. Only people who knew about wizards and vampires could possibly understand what was she truly talking about.

"Are they actually going to air this?" asked Billy when it was over. "Are they actually planning to start revealing things?"

"More like laying foundation for it," replied Carlisle. "And covering their bases in case certain things become public."

Truly enough, one could easily imagine someone pointing at the speech a dozen years later and saying, "That was the moment when we started to tell you."

"There's one more bit which was recorded later and can be inserted before the end of the speech," continued Carlisle. "They still aren't sure whether to use it or leave the speech as it is."

Andromeda tapped the gadget with her wand and the other video started. It sounded like a cryptic message to magical children of mundane descent living in normal society. It told them to seek a nearest recruitment office (even if they had no intention of enlisting) if they felt uncomfortable in their current environment. Bella wondered what would have the Dursleys thought and done if they had saw such a message in TV.

"I don't think that kids for whom this is intended have got a TV to watch," mused Andromeda.

"Yes, that's why are they hesitant with this," agreed Carlisle. "Possible returns in this regard are minimal and it could backfire if wrong people decoded the message. However, the target audience is broader than that. Smith had some input in this as well."

"You hope that it will reach dhampirs," guessed Jacob.

"Well, it could happen."

They played some games afterwards - all children and most adults together. Some people (like Andromeda) opted to stay out of those and observe.

There were little children there so it became time for the evening to end soon enough. Bella rode Charlie home in his cruiser and returned back on foot. Elizabeth went to bed and fell asleep in a little while.

The house fell silent. Bella and Edward went outside. The sky was exceptionally clear that night so they just watched the stars for a while. For a vampire, the sight was far more wondrous than for a human.

Edward remembered that some of his family had thought about going up there at one point or another. He himself had everything he needed right around him but he could imagine having interest in such an adventure some time in far future, when his daughter would be all grown up and having a life and family of her own.

"Merry Christmas," he told Bella. It was clear that he didn't mean it in a teasing manner.

"May we live through many more together," agreed Bella.

* * *

The Brits didn't air that extra bit of the queen's speech in the end. John Smith didn't fret over it. They simply had to find dhampirs some other way.

A few weeks later, a copy of some records he had requested from a magical authority overseeing south of South America arrived. (Just like in North America, the magical authorities of South America didn't copy the nations.) John Smith leafed through the papers and sighed. He was getting used to computers. Luckily, it wasn't him who was going to go through it.

He added the materials in a box containing his latest batch for Jasper. He sent the box to him later that day.

* * *

Jasper and Carlisle were sifting through Smith's latest shipment. Jasper wondered whether it was completely kosher for Smith to keep sending them materials which weren't supposed to be available to just anybody. He guessed that there was no harm done because the records concerned only magical creatures and were rather old.

Carlisle was drinking a space drink from a china cup. It was some kind of a new flavour which was supposed to taste like tea. Jasper didn't comment on it.

"Well I'll be dammed," uttered Jasper finally, staring at a text in his hands.

"What is it?"

"A little mention from second half of nineteenth century."

He dropped the papers and ran to a computer. The report reminded him of something from his previous research.

Carlisle read the report himself. It said that a new kind of a vampire might be in the region. There were no further mentions of this so Carlisle assumed that the case was dropped. He followed Jasper.

"This is a wild guess," cautioned Carlisle.

"Well, this Mapuche legend about something like an incubus would corroborate it."

"Almost every culture has a legend about something like an incubus."

"True. I guess we'll have to investigate ourselves."


	14. Dhampirs

Dhampirs

 **AN:** _It's presumed that readers have read about Joham and his children in the Twilight guide from SM._

Alice and Jasper travelled to South America. Edward joined them to help in initial stages of the search.

They discarded the idea of taking Elizabeth along. Apart from other reasons, she would jam Alice's vision. Considering that she was searching for a blind spot, her task was going to be difficult enough as it was. No wolves joined them either for the same reason.

Smith knew about the expedition and offered his help in dealing with any dhampirs. It was unknown whether they would react better to a vampire or to a human. Smith didn't join them straight-away but he awaited their word and Jasper carried a Portkey beacon for a case that Smith would need to get there quickly.

They spent about a month collecting various folklore. What they learned indicated a possibility that the area had been visited by a male vampire with a taste for human women. It was difficult to date this event but it was possible that it had been just before the local authorities had made the record which had led Jasper there.

And so a theory started to take shape. A male vampire comes to South America. Just like Tanya and her sisters, he prefers humans to vampires. He searches for a lover among local tribes and finds one. He has control over his thirst and strength so he doesn't kill her. She gets pregnant but before the vampire learns about it, he leaves for reasons unknown. The little dhampir is born, killing his mother in the process. Before he or she learns to be more careful, the local Ministry takes notice.

Alas, the dhampir himself was nowhere to be found. Edward decided that he wasn't necessarily needed there and that there was no reason to prolong his absence from home. He returned to Forks. The others remained and kept searching for a blind spot in Alice's vision.

A few weeks later, Alice and Jasper started to doubt whether the dhampir was ever going to show up. After all, it had been a long time ago. There was no guarantee that he or she was still in the area.

They were considering their options when Alice finally noticed a mild jamming in the future. They moved to the area where it was and the jamming became a blind spot. Alice guessed that it was several days ahead in future.

They made a large circle around a found a spot in which the circle was intersected by a jamming which was going to occur sooner in time. That was the direction from which the source of jamming was going to arrive.

Jasper didn't need to ask Alice how was she able to see that when the jamming jammed her vision. He had witnessed many times before that whenever it had been firmly decided for them to be in vicinity of the wolves (whosoever decision it was), the blind spot appeared at that moment. A perfect example of that was the last Christmas.

They tracked the disturbance through the forest until they arrived to a railway station. It followed the rails afterwards.

"Curious," muttered Jasper.

Alice called home and Jasper called Smith. He (Smith) started to prepare for a travel to South America.

They progressed faster this time around, checking only at intersections. They arrived to an international airport and decided that there was no point in continued tracking.

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Jasper. "We couldn't find anybody for all this time because the subject was on vacation?"

"If it's even the one we are searching for," theorized Alice. "For all we know, it's somebody else."

Jasper called Smith again and let him know that the subject was going to arrive in a few days by plane. Smith decided to take a plane as well.

"Who knows?" he joked. "Maybe I arrive by the same plane."

Jasper and Alice bided their time. As the time of arrival of the source of jamming drew nearer, they found out that it coincided with Smith's arrival. They didn't know which plane was going to arrive sooner but it was sure that it was going to be close. A little while later, Alice realized that she couldn't see Smith at all. That meant that he either shielded himself with magic (an unrealistic option, considering that he was sitting in a plane full of electronics) or that there was a source of jamming near him.

They sent Smith an SMS and appraised him of this development. He answered, "Give me a moment." He sent another message some time later. It read: "I think he's sitting a few rows away from me."

"This isn't happening," couldn't believe Jasper. "This isn't happening! What was the chance of something like this?"

"Well, Smith is coming here because we saw the dhampir," mused Alice. "So it isn't coincidental."

Another message arrived. It contained Smith's seat and the dhampir's relative position. Smith wanted them to find out more. He couldn't do it himself for obvious reasons, at least not without the dhampir noticing. Jasper called Edward and delegated the task to him.

Edward called back soon enough. The ticket for that seat was bought by somebody named Nahuel Perez. The first name sounded Mapuche while the surname was very common in Argentina. It was possible that it was fake. More like probable.

Nahuel had travelled to U.S. from that very same airport two months earlier. He had applied for a visa like anybody else. His purpose for the travel had been "personal visit". His destination was Ohio. Further inquiry revealed that Nahuel had been visiting Ohio regularly in past several years. Was something there important to him? Someone? Thinking about it, it was probably no problem for the dhampir to land in Ohio and run to a neighbouring state.

It was sure that Jasper, Smith, and Alice were going to have quite a few interesting questions for Nahuel. That is, if he was going to be willing to converse with them.

After a few more exchanged messages with Smith, they decided to wait right outside the terminal building. They didn't wish the dhampir to feel trapped. It was a gamble but they didn't wish to be first ones to make a wrong move.

Back in Forks, Emmett and Rosalie learned about the situation. Especially Emmett found it all amusing.

"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed, struck by a sudden idea. "What if something happens on that plane, some kind of an emergency situation, and the two of them will have to work together to resolve it? It will be a struggle between their mistrust and the need to cooperate and save the plane and the passengers."

"Don't call it upon them," admonished him Edward. "We don't want another crazy situation like with the ant colony."

Despite Emmett's jinx, nothing happened during the flight. The plane landed and Smith and the dhampir disembarked. Smith considered optimal ways to approach their man. He was quite sure that it would be better to talk to him before he smells the vampires.

Smith was in front of the dhampir in the customs line. He turned around to face Nahuel and waited till he was noticed. When they made an eye contact, Smith made it look like he was considering something before changing his mind and turning forward again. He stroked his chin for a while and then turned back again. He didn't need to wait this time - he had the dhampir's attention already. He let the people between them in front of him.

"May I help you?" asked Nahuel in a tone which betrayed that he didn't wish to talk.

"As a matter of fact, sir, I would be very grateful for a few moments of your time," confirmed Smith and introduced himself, extending his hand. The dhampir didn't reciprocate nor did he shake the offered hand.

"I'm sorry to bother you but you look like a reasonable person, if I may say so," continued Smith.

The dhampir didn't reply.

"A reasonable person such as yourself surely wouldn't miss an opportunity to learn answers to all his questions - or most of them, at least."

Nahuel rolled his eyes. One question surely seemed answered - Smith sounded like a stereotypical missionary from some kind of a millenarian Christian sect.

"No, thank you," he refused. "I'm a catholic and all my questions have been answered already." He said it with a hint of sarcasm because it wasn't true.

"Including things like whether you are alone?" insisted Smith.

That failed to hit the spot. Nahuel knew already that he wasn't the only dhampir on the planet nor was he alone. Hence, it didn't even occur to him that Smith could be talking about anything else than space people.

Their turn came and Smith submitted his passport. Much to Nahuel's annoyance, he didn't walk away once he was cleared. He waited for him on the other side.

"Now you're becoming a bother," snapped Nahuel and walked towards the exit.

Jogging alongside him, Smith implored, "We are running out of time, so I'm going to give it to you straight."

Having a superhuman brain, Nahuel had enough time to think, _"Great. Bad space people are going to attack Earth and good space people are going to save me for ten pesos."_

"Stay calm, please," continued Smith. "You're going to smell my associates soon. I assure you that I don't work for them as some kind of a bait and that they don't mean any harm to you or anybody else."

That was the moment when Nahuel realized how serious the situation was. He reached the exit and inhaled a breeze of air from the outside. Because he was "looking" for it, he noticed a scent of a vampire or vampires.

"Please don't make a scene," pleaded Smith. "It would be a pain to modify memories of all these people."

He was bluffing. He had no jurisdiction for that. However, Nahuel's reaction (if it was genuine) told him that the dhampir had no knowledge of magic.

"What do you want?" growled Nahuel.

"Just to talk, I swear. We can provide you with a lot of useful information. Trust me, this is an opportunity which you can ill afford to pass."

"Information? What, for example?"

"Well, you've heard about the Volturi, right?" whispered Smith, correctly presuming that Nahuel would hear him. "Are you aware that they are all dead? It's a pretty recent event. Unfortunately, even a worse threat rose in their place."

Nahuel contemplated his options.

"Look, we are taking a huge gamble here ourselves," reasoned Smith. "I didn't know I was going to meet you on that plane but I could have cornered you there. Or here before the customs. But I did it here, when you can leave freely. How do I know that your father isn't some kind of a maniac and that you aren't a lieutenant in his army?"

"He's maniac all right but he isn't building any army and I would never work for that bastard."

That sentence told Smith a lot about Nahuel's relationship with his father (if it was truthful).

"So, would you be willing to talk with us?" drawled Smith.

Nahuel thought about it. "I strive to avoid vampires," he said in the end.

"I assure you that they are harmless. Unlike you."

"What do you mean?"

Smith was about to elaborate but then he realized that explaining about their find in the records of the local authorities was a long story. He proposed to move to a more private setting. Nahuel agreed.

Another hurdle came when they approached Jasper and Alice who were waiting for them. Nahuel became rather nervous. Then he noticed their eyes.

"Your eyes," he commented.

"Yes, we used to get that a lot," replied Jasper.

Smith introduced them.

"You aren't normal vampires?" asked Nahuel.

"All original vampires have been destroyed ages ago," retorted Jasper. "With a few exceptions."

"Our eyes look that way because we feed only on animals," explained Alice.

"Judging by your reaction, you've seen something like it before," prodded Jasper.

"Maybe," evaded Nahuel.

"Well, you can tell us about it later."

They sat down in a park. For as long as they kept their voices down, they had a reasonable privacy.

"So, your father is a vampire," opened Smith. "He arrived in the area and accidentally conceived you. Your mother died in childbirth. Am I right?"

"It wasn't an accident," growled Nahuel. "He knew what he was doing."

"I see. Would you care to tell us about it?"

Nahuel did as he was asked but only to a certain point. He left his aunt out and didn't even bother to hide the fact. When he finished (for the moment), Smith and the others knew about Joham and his oldest daughter.

"Well, I guess it's our turn now," said Smith afterwards.

He told Nahuel about magic and magical world. Then his throat got dry and he asked Jasper and Alice to continue. They determined volume and speed Nahuel was able to follow comfortably and continued more quickly. They told him about history of vampires and Children of the Moon.

"And that brings us to you," said Jasper. "You were noticed by local authorities in the time after your birth. They thought that you were some kind of a new vampire. Perhaps some even lover generation."

Nahuel shook his head and denied, "And that's where you are wrong. It wasn't me."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not saying that I've never drank from a human. However, I've never craved human blood. I was always perfectly fine with animal blood. Then I grew older and started to eat their meat as well. Freshly killed, still warm and bloody. And later on... It doesn't matter. My point is, there was never a reason for me to do anything that would get me noticed."

"Is there somebody else around?"

Nahuel repeated his answer from before: "Maybe."

"Fair enough," conceded Jasper.

Alice continued with the war with Voldemort, and destruction of the Volturi. She left out anything connected to them (Bella, Elizabeth, Quileutes, and such). Just like Nahuel, she didn't hide the fact. In the end, Smith hinted something about the Romanians but excused himself on the grounds of such information being secret.

"So, that's pretty much most of the relevant information," said Jasper in the end. "We'll tell you more later but I'd like to know, where do we stand now?"

"That depends," replied Nahuel.

"On what?"

"What are you going to want from me. I'm also going to need to see some of what you described for myself."

"That can be arranged. To a degree."

Jasper cleared his throat and proposed, "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to make an observation. Nahuel, my smell tells me that you've got venom in your mouth. Just like we do. Have you ever changed somebody?"

Nahuel contemplated for a while before he answered, "Yes. My aunt. Right after I was born. She didn't turn into your usual vampire. Other vampires usually don't notice anything but she's different."

"Still, she craved human blood enough to be noticed," commented Smith.

"Enough to make a few tribes to leave the area," specified Nahuel. "She was a good hunter in her human life and it's not like she was taught that killing is a cardinal sin. Besides your own people, of course, but she stopped considering them her people the moment she fled with my mother. Alas, she couldn't carry on like that. That much was clear to me. I convinced her to try feeding on animals and leaving humans alone. It worked quite well for her. I always thought that it was due to the fact that she wasn't a full vampire. I didn't believe that a normal one could survive without human blood."

"Well, on the contrary," responded Jasper. "As a matter of fact, there is an opinion that due to the partially artificial nature of our metabolism, we could survive on almost anything for as long as it isn't solid and contains everything we need. Right now, we are testing a purely inorganic sustenance developed in NASA. We don't know what are long term effects of drinking only that and nothing else but so far so good."

"I need to ask," interrupted Smith. "Do either you or your aunt feed on humans now?"

"No. We try keep a low profile."

"Good. Keep it that way. Don't get me wrong, the government is willing to look the other way when nomads suck dry somebody who isn't going to be missed but I would prefer if that wasn't your approach. In your case especially."

"I sense that I'm finally going to hear what is it that you want from me. Didn't you say that you just want to talk?"

"What's wrong about proposing something whilst talking? It's just an offer. One that you'll have to consult with your aunt."

"Very well, I'm listening."

"I guess the situation is our fault partly," explained Jasper. "Years ago, after the destruction of the Volturi, the U.S. government thought about its ability to protect itself from vampires. We didn't want them to create an army of vampires, of course. Hence, we insinuated that there is something like dhampirs out there."

"How did you know about us?"

Alice and Jasper looked at each other. Alice considered calling Bella but there was really no need. They were left with instructions regarding such situations.

"We were in contact with a dhampir at the time already," divulged Alice. "One with a story which is quite opposite from yours. For one, its mother survived and became a vampire. She is quite opposed to an idea of presenting her child to the government."

That stupefied Nahuel.

"Survived? How?" he asked.

"Her husband performed a C-section and injected her with a syringe of his venom."

Nahuel closed his eyes and processed the image. It looked like this other dhampir had everything he had been denied.

Jasper nodded at Alice who said, "I'm sorry. This must be difficult for you."

"No, I'm all right. I'll help you. After I get a blessing for this course of action from my aunt. There are also other concerns which will need to be addressed. We can talk about them later."

"Of course, take your time," replied Smith. "I hope I don't have to remind you that everything said here by us and by you is secret."

"No, you don't."

Smith looked at Jasper briefly who nodded. His gift was telling him that Nahuel wasn't lying. Then again, they didn't know if he had an ability to shield himself from Jasper. They didn't know him but what he had told them was a sufficient counterweight for what they had told him. Caging Nahuel was the best way of scaring away a potential ally. It looked like that taking a leap of faith was the best course of action. A leap of faith with some safety rope.

"Here," said Smith and handed him a business card. "Call me any time. If somebody else answers, just say that you've called."

The card was "painted". Smith hoped that Nahuel wasn't able to notice. Also, they knew where was he going. They hoped that he wasn't going to be able to smell their presence there. Maybe it would be better to tell him but that would mean revealing Alice's ability.

"Do you need me here or can you handle the remaining negotiations yourself?" asked Smith.

"No, it's OK," answered Jasper.

"Then I'll return home," resolved Smith and pulled a slingshot Portkey from his pocket. "I'd prefer not having to spend the night in a hotel."

"What? What is that?" whispered Nahuel to Jasper and Alice. "What's he going to do?"

"You'll see."

Smith took his suitcase and walked into nearby bushes. Alice and Jasper checked if somebody could see him. Jasper nodded at Smith who activated the Portkey.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Nahuel when Smith was whisked away.

"Quite," agreed Alice. "Are you turning into a believer?"

"It looks like it."

Nahuel proposed a place and time to meet again. It was the train station where Alice and Jasper had arrived to a railway before. Once again, they hoped that Nahuel wasn't going to smell them there. Luckily, it rained several times in the meantime. Maybe such an approach was dishonest but they barely knew him. Perhaps they would be able to tell him later.

After Nahuel's train left, Jasper and Alice were faced with a choice. One was to take a train next day or return the same way they had arrived: on their own feet. They decided for the latter and followed the tracks at a leisure pace.

In the meantime, Smith met with the rest of the clan. Elizabeth and Jacob were present, of course. Because Seth had been with Jacob on a patrol just before the meeting, he was present as well. They had a brief call with Jasper who gave them his take on Nahuel's feelings. Smith dissected the meeting in detail afterwards. Emmett still couldn't believe that Smith found himself of the same plane as Nahuel.

"You know, there are two things that worry me," said Jacob. "One is the possibility that this Nahuel isn't as estranged from the rest of his family as he says. Jasper says that it's improbable but who's to say that Nahuel can't block Jasper. At least partially, like Bella always could. Now, imagine what would happen if there was a connection between Joham and the Romanians."

"That's what I've been thinking for the whole time," admitted Smith. "We can only hope that Nahuel will let Jasper anywhere near his aunt. Then he can get a read on her. It would be improbable if both of them were able to deceive him."

"Well, they are related," commented Carlisle.

"What could the Romanians possibly offer him?" pondered Bella. "I don't see them finding a common language."

"Indeed," agreed Edward. "I don't think that the Romanians would be very happy about his goals. Make no mistake, I find Joham's methods despicable. However, it seems he shares a goal with us."

"And what is that?" asked Jacob.

"Make vampires obsolete."

There was a moment silence. Nobody questioned it - that was exactly what they were doing.

"Well, just saying," continued Jacob. "It may improbable but that doesn't mean it's impossible. The other thing on my mind is far more probable though. Consider this: Nahuel just learned that there may be a female dhampir who isn't his sister."

"Ew," snorted Elizabeth.

"The implications are all the same for both cases," continued Jacob. "We should strive to prevent him from learning anything more."

"Well, all of this may have an effect on his siblings," reminded them Rosalie. "He may not trust us unless we trust him."

"There is a middle ground," piped in Seth.

Everybody turned at him. He had been invited along with Jacob out of politeness but they didn't really expect him to contribute anything.

"Look, our existence, I mean of the Quileute tribe, is no secret in the magical world. If Nahuel isn't being honest then he may possibly know about us already. However, if everything he said is true, then I can understand why he wouldn't want to trust vampires or agent Smith here. No offence."

"None taken," replied Smith when he realized that the last bit was addressed to him. "Was there some cultural reference in there?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm just trying to say that maybe he would react better to us."

Once again, there was silence.

"Everybody else would have to ratify this," remarked Jacob.

"Of course, that goes without saying," assured him Edward. "Can you make the decision before tomorrow morning?"

"I don't think so."

"Can you at least tell us if you agree with Jasper and Alice insinuating that there is such an option?"

"That's more realistic. We'll get to it right away. If you excuse us."

Jacob and Seth ran away to summon a meeting of their own.

"One more thing," spoke Emmett. "There's no point in keeping any information about the Romanians from him. He should know what danger are we facing."

"Agreed," answered Smith. "It's just that it's classified and all and I'd hate to start spilling classified stuff to everybody I meet. Jasper can brief him tomorrow."

He left and Carlisle called Jasper again to tell him what they agreed on. Jacob called late that evening to let the Cullens know that the others gave a preliminary consent for their participation in the dealings with Nahuel.

When Nahuel arrived to the train station next morning, Jasper and Alice were waiting there already. Nahuel had his aunt Huilen in tow.

"Good morning," he said. "This is my aunt Huilen. She insisted on being here. This is Jasper and Alice."

Huilen nodded when he said her name. Jasper and Alice could see that she was different from them. She smelled differently and even seemed to have higher temperature when she shook their hands.

They gathered in woods behind the station and began their meeting.

"We have one request," said Huilen in a broken English. "Joham needs to be stopped."

"That much we can agree upon," replied Jasper. "If he was responsible for a death of an innocent during last few decades then we can use it against him."

"Well, that was quick," commented Nahuel. It sounded like he was talking to his aunt rather then to Jasper and Alice. "Alas, it won't be so simple. His oldest daughter is loyal to him and her younger sisters are loyal to her. I would prefer if it could be done without antagonizing them."

"Once again, we can only agree," replied Alice. The last thing they needed was to drive the sisters to the Romanians. "It's going to be problematic though. And we would need to learn more about them."

Nahuel nodded slowly. It didn't look like an agreement, merely an acknowledgement.

"And that's also a problem because you don't wish to tell us more about them until you know that we mean them no harm," added Jasper.

"Something like that, yes. Quite a deadlock."

"Well, perhaps we can start by rewarding you for coming here," proposed Alice. "We decided to share more information with you."

"We are listening."

"First of all, there's something I've been wondering about," started Jasper. "After the destruction of the Volturi, a kind of a vampire council was established in Alaska. They've been spreading the word about the Volturi. They even told many vampires that the government knows about vampires. How does it come that Joham never told you about any of that?"

"Well, either he kept it from me or he doesn't know himself yet. He usually avoids other vampires, truth to told."

"Very well, now you know. Now, we have two important things to tell you. First, we told you that there is a new player in the vampire world. One more ancient than the Volturi and in certain regards more dangerous."

Jasper told Nahuel and Huilen everything about the Romanians.

"Why do you think we would ever want to work for them?" wondered Nahuel when Jasper finished.

"I don't know. Would you work for them if they held one your sisters hostage?"

"I see," uttered Nahuel carefully.

"On the bright side, we don't have to be as careful as we were when the Volturi were still around," commented Alice. "Which is why we might be able to tell the second important thing we wanted to talk to you about."

Nahuel waited.

"There's an independent third party which can resolve our stalemate," revealed Jasper. "They have not agreed yet to meet you but I suspect they will."

"And how can they possibly help us? What is their interest in this?"

"Well, the dhampir we've told you about is affiliated with them and they have some common biological traits with your kind. Our dealings with you concerns them because they care about the dhampir and don't wish you to meet her just yet."

"Her?" repeated Nahuel. It was first time they revealed Elizabeth's gender to him.

"She isn't single so don't even think about it."

"I wasn't thinking about... whatever you think I was thinking about," denied Nahuel. "Trust me, I'm not my father. Is this why are you so careful?" Truth to be told, the idea flashed in his mind for a split of a second.

"Yes. We want to keep her as far as possible from Joham and anybody connected to him."

"Very well. Tell me more."

"They aren't entirely human but they think about themselves that way. Their affiliation is with the government and some of them are in military. They are willing to work only with vegetarians so make sure not to feed on humans."

Nahuel looked and Huilen and said, "That shouldn't too much of a problem, right?"

"Right," echoed Huilen.

"Still, I don't understand the position of these obscure people you are talking about," inquired Nahuel. "Why do they care about the... dhampiresa?" He said the word awkwardly. He had never used this term to describe his kind.

"That's not something we can talk about without their consent," refused Jasper. "I know, we are becoming annoying with that but look at the other side of it: We won't divulge your secrets to other people without your consent either. As a matter of fact, no one even knows that we have found you. Not even Smith's superiors and colleagues."

"And this third party you mentioned? You've told them."

"Those have known about dhampirs from the very beginning and are personally vested in this."

Jasper and Alice managed to get enough of Nahuel's and Huilen's trust for them to give them more details about their story. One of more notable things they learned was the fact that when a human smelled good to a vampire (like Bella to Edward), it signified greater genetic compatibility. It sounded like Quileute mate-seeking sense to Jasper, only linked to stomach for some reason.

In the end, Nahuel agreed to return to the States. Huilen was going to accompany him. Jasper gave them a package of money and a small box of sunscreen for Huilen.

"Are you sure you can avoid getting captured by Joham or the Romanians?" asked Alice, half in joke.

"Yes, we can get to U.S. on our own," replied Nahuel. "Thank you very much."

"We'll see you there then," said Jasper. "If there are any trouble, call Smith."

Alice and Jasper returned to the airport while Nahuel and Huilen started to make preparations for their trip. Huilen didn't like leaving their territory but it was understood they were going to be away for a longer time than usually.

"What if they bail?" asked Alice when they returned to the airport.

"Doesn't seem like it. At least as far as I can tell," disagreed Jasper. "I think he wants to get even with Joham. Without antagonizing his sisters. Moreover, I sensed hope in him."

"Hope?"

"The fact that Elizabeth didn't kill Bella affected him. For first time, his perspective when it comes to his kind is shifting. He's starting to believe that he can have future. I think that if we can earn his trust, he could be an useful ally."

"If you say so. Just remember that we gave them one piece of really dangerous information. It could lead certain people right to Elizabeth."

"I know. We'll have to be careful for a while. But sometimes, you need to take a leap of faith. Just like he and his aunt are doing right now."

Alice and Jasper returned to Forks. The Quileutes agreed for Jacob to meet Nahuel. Seth was to accompany him since he was up to speed already. Both of them travelled with Jasper to a state where they had agreed to meet with Nahuel. The exact spot was going to be chosen by Nahuel.

Nahuel and Huilen arrived several days later. They rented a cabin in a sparsely populated area and called Smith. Four visitors arrived in a few hours: Smith, Jasper, and the two wolves.

They had a short meeting which involved all six of them. It didn't take long for them to split into two groups: Nahuel and the wolves and Huilen and the others. Both groups discussed things which mattered most either to Nahuel or Huilen. This told them that while Huilen cared just about herself and her nephew and keeping the things the way they were, Nahuel was genuinely concerned for his sisters and their safety (and for his aunt as well, of course).

After some time, Nahuel returned to one of his original points: he needed to see the magical world on his own eyes. After all, any wizard could had come to him and his aunt and tell them whatever he wanted.

"What do you've got in mind?" asked Smith. "Some kind of a trip to Diagon Alley?"

Jasper blew some air out through his nose.

"You disapprove?" asked Smith.

"Diagon Alley is something you show to little wizards coming from non-magical background," argued Jasper. "The purpose is to awe and overwhelm them. Just like they did with Harry Potter. I think it's a little inadequate to put Nahuel in the same shoes."

Smith scratched the back of his neck, turned to Nahuel, and admitted, "Well, Jasper is right. However, it may be the only place where you won't stick out. If I brought you to one of the magical schools here in States so you could peruse its library, somebody could notice that something is off about you. Diagon Alley is not as vibrant as it used to be before the war but it's still extravagant enough to allow us to blend in. By us I mean just the two of us. Any vampires would garner attention and then you would be surely noticed."

Nahuel nodded. It wasn't like he had any insight to offer.

"What if there are vampire guards?" asked Jasper. That could mean one of the soldiers trained by Jasper, one of Eldridge's employees, or one of cooperating "nomads".

"Good point," agreed Smith. "You could go there just before us and check."

Nahuel couldn't travel by an international Portkey (at least not one created by proper authorities) so he, Huilen, and Jasper chartered a plane. Smith created a slingshot Portkey and gave it Jasper. He couldn't take it with himself because slingshot Portkeys interferred with magical transportation. There was no need for Huilen to accompany them but Nahuel refused to leave her behind.

After landing in London, they met with Smith and Jasper went on to scout Diagon Alley. He had to admit that much changed. Many of the shops which Bella had known were gone and new one appeared. There was even a military recruitment office.

There were patrols, of course. Each of them had at least three members: a muggle-born, a soldier, and a police officer. That was a downsize from before, when there were at least four men (an extra soldier). Some patrols were bigger, especially around the bank where every patrol was joined by a goblin or two. Knockturn Alley too was changed beyond recognition. Many of its former inhabitants had left or were dead or in prison. Some of the buildings had been torn down.

Jasper didn't saw any vampires (though he noticed a faint smell of one of "his boys"). He spotted a werewolf from a distance. Full moon ended several days ago and he still looked worn. He was probably trying to procure a potion for next time. He was going to mention the werewolf to Smith but he reckoned that he wasn't going to be a problem. He was more worried about goblins spotting something different about Nahuel.

Jasper returned and relayed what he had seen. Smith surmised that it was safe for Nahuel to accompany him to the alley. They didn't use the entrance from the Leaky Cauldron but apparated to one of the spots in there instead.

After some time time, Jasper asked Huilen, "There's one thing I'd like to ask, if that's all right."

"Well, ask."

"If it wasn't for Nahuel and his sisters, what would you want to do with Joham?"

Huilen smirked and gave him the answer he expected. "Tear apart him and burn the pieces," she answered.

"You know, he was probably considering the same when he saw you with Nahuel," theorized Jasper. "It would have been no problem for him because you were a new vampire back then. I guess he didn't do it for Nahuel's sake."

Huilen didn't answer and silently acknowledged what she had already known.

"Do you and your nephew have some kind of an idea how to tackle him?" continued Jasper.

"It's... complicated," replied Huilen slowly.

Jasper noted the pause and sensed that Huilen truly hesitated for a moment. He found a it little a bit strange for a vampire. He had seen real vampires to be stumped like that sometimes. Most of those occasions were when Alice processed her visions or when Bella used to befuddle Edward before she had revealed herself to them as a witch. Jasper made pauses himself sometimes for the sake of humans listening to him for the same reason why he talked at human speed when around humans. However, Huilen had no reason to do that with him. Maybe the pause was made because Huilen wasn't accustomed to English. And maybe it really took her that long to decide what to say. Jasper couldn't decide whether it meant that Huilen was slow or whether her brain offered her more options.

"Yes, you explained that already," answered Jasper as soon Huilen finished the sentence. "What I mean is whether you have a preference."

"I want him locked up," stated Huilen resolutely. "Unable to do what he has been doing for last few centuries."

"Unable because of being locked up or locked up and unable to do it at the same time?"

Huilen chuckled and elaborated, "If that's what will it take to make him to surrender without a fight, then I'll settle for locked up. However, in any other scenario, I'll make sure myself that he won't do to anybody else what he did to my sister."

"Fair enough. Alas, I've got two points to raise on that score."

"Yes?"

"One. You seem to care a lot about humans for somebody who has killed so many of them. Not as many as I did in my nomad days, of course, but still enough to make whole tribes move away."

"I've already told you. Our own tribe would have killed my sister if they had known about her pregnancy. I never owed anything to anybody so no one can reproach me. However, that does not mean I want that bastard to gallivant around and keep doing what he does."

"Yes, I get that. Anyway, the second point. To be able to do what you've said, you would have to best Joham in combat first."

Huilen looked away from Jasper. He was right - she probably had no chance against Joham in a single combat.

Nahuel and Smith returned from Diagon Alley then. Nahuel was carrying a book titled "A Brief History of Magic". It had been written and published by wizards before the war.

"A little bit slim, considering the wideness of the topic," commented Jasper.

"It's actually only about Britain," explained Nahuel.

"Well, Nahuel, what's next?" asked Smith. He rubbed his hands and joked, "I would try to secure a tour of Hogwarts for you but, as I've said, somebody blew it up."

Nahuel thought about it. There were only two options: going to Pentagon or talk to the wolves about his sisters. He guessed that talking to some bigwigs was going to make it all final and solid for him. He was going to know that he was talking to the right people (or at least as right as humanly possible).

"Well, I've promised to talk to some generals," he said.

"Splendid!" rejoiced Smith. "I'll go to make the arrangements. It needs to be done with care."


	15. Joham

Joham

 **AN:** _See chapter 5 of part 1 for the back-story about the motorbikes._

Elizabeth explored Jacob's garage. He was at a meeting with the pack and the elders (the latter included Sam, a fact which Elizabeth found hilarious). Jasper had returned from Britain with Nahuel and Huilen and a hearing at Pentagon was scheduled. Nahuel was still cooperating and that meant that Quileutes needed to discuss their stance on the situation.

There was something covered by a tarp in a corner. Elizabeth had noticed it before but this time around, it really caught her interest. Plus, she had nothing to do.

There was a thick layer of dust on the tarp. Nobody uncovered the stuff underneath for a long time. She made her way there, stepping over spare tires.

She grabbed a corner of the tarp and lifted it. Clouds of dust rose in the air and she had to run outside. Her airwaves were sturdier than human ones but that didn't mean that she liked inhaling dust. She returned inside after a moment and uncovered what was hidden there: two motorbikes.

Elizabeth heard footsteps outside and smelled Jacob. She walked out to meet him.

"So?" she asked.

"They won't be exposing Nahuel's existence to everybody - just to some select people," informed her Jacob. "Nahuel will want to talk to us again afterwards. I've been authorized to tell him more about us. It's not like our existence is a secret."

"And what do you think?"

"Like I've said, I think that he really cares about his sisters and I can appreciate that. There's something else that came to my mind during the meeting. I've mentioned it to the others already."

Elizabeth waited for him to continue.

"There's something off about the way he worries. Imagine that you've got a few sisters, each of them at least a century old. A proper brother would care about them, that's for sure. At the same time, however, you would assume that they can take care of themselves."

"And you don't get that vibe from Nahuel."

"Well, I didn't ask Jasper about it and I guess that it's a matter of Nahuel's privacy but I think that it's possible that he's got another sister he isn't mentioning. One that is younger and more vulnerable than the others. I also think that he's visiting her more often than the rest of his family. As a matter of fact, I think that he was visiting her when Alice and Jasper were waiting for him in South America."

"Didn't they say that Joham had stopped his experiments?" asked Elizabeth.

"And went to convince other sick vampires to follow in his footsteps. That doesn't mean that he didn't start again after he failed."

"I see."

They discussed briefly what it meant for La Push and what else had been said at the meeting.

"By the way, I noticed the bikes when I was waiting for you," mentioned Elizabeth later.

"Oh. I've been wondering when were you going to discover them."

"They've been there for some time. When did you get them?"

"We procured them with your mother some time after she moved here. We fixed them a little with the help of her magic but then she got more involved with your dad and the others and there wasn't enough time to play with those bikes any longer."

"Huh. Why did she want to fix those bikes?"

"Hasn't she told you that your grandfather had one of those?"

"Yes, a flying one. She doesn't talk about him much though. I find it a little bit strange for her to start such a project just to honour his memory."

"Maybe she simply wanted a bike," theorized Jacob.

"I guess that's possible."

There was a moment of silence.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Elizabeth.

"What are you thinking?"

"We could finish those bikes!"

"How? We don't have a spell-caster any more. Andromeda won't help and Teddy won't be able to for years to come."

"We don't need a wizard. We've got money."

"Oh come on! That's cheating."

"And using magic isn't? Besides, finding those parts will be difficult enough. Those bikes went out of production quite a long time ago."

"OK, we can look into it. Under one condition. Your parents have to allow you to do this."

* * *

Jasper, Nahuel, and Huilen walked into the Pentagon a few days later. John Smith was awaiting them. They continued to a conference room together. Smith waited outside with Nahuel and Huilen while Jasper went inside to prepare for their announcement. Several generals arrived some time later.

"Good morning, gentleman," addressed them Jasper. "Thank you all for coming. If you are wondering where's Mr. Smith, he'll join us later. Is everybody OK with that?"

Nobody answered. Somebody told him to get on with it.

"As you wish," continued Jasper. "As you surely remember, my colleague Bellatrix made a certain revelation some time ago. Each and every one of you was present here, in this very room, when she told you to consider vampires obsolete. Then she insinuated that there was a possible replacement - or, as we know now, replacements. It was a mistake for her to talk about it back then, especially without consulting it with the Quileute tribe first. However, they agreed some time ago that since we said A, we ought to say B as well."

"Quileutes? What do they have to do with this?" asked one of the generals.

"It's not about them, if that's what you think, but they have more say in this than others. Several years ago, they came in contact with a new race. By 'new', I mean previously unknown."

"Yes, we have surmised that it concerned some kind of a new species or a race," commented another general.

"As expected. Some time ago, we were authorized to bring Mr. Smith in on the secret. Today, we'll take it further. Alas, we had to consent to certain security measures."

"What kind of measures?"

Jasper smiled apologetically and explained, "Please remember that this isn't up to us. I'm afraid I owe an apology to most of you because not every one of you will learn this secret today. The reason why we asked all of you to come is because you need to select three among you. Use random selection or choose those of you who have the trust of all others. From these three, me and Smith will randomly and secretly draw two who will be invited to meet representatives of the new race. This way, all three of your chosen ones will be able to claim that they don't know anything."

There was a moment of silence.

"Are you serious?" asked somebody. "Aren't you overdoing it with such games?"

"As I said, it's not up to us. Not even the Brits or Mr. Smith's colleagues and superiors know about this."

The generals rumbled and complained. They were used to the fact that they were being entrusted with many grave secrets. Jasper reiterated that their clearance level was of no use in this case.

When everyone but three generals left, Smith entered along with Huilen and Nahuel. The generals understood that selecting only two of them was a mere ruse.

"Gentlemen, please Mr. Nahuel and Ms. Huilen," opened John Smith.

"We won't be just introducing a new race to you today but a new type of a vampire as well!" announced Jasper. "If you wish, you can disclose this to your colleagues for as long as you keep the origin of this new vampire to yourself."

Huilen introduced herself shortly but didn't mention how had she been changed yet. Smith informed them that they didn't know much about her physiology yet other than it was closer to that of a human body than in the case of normal vampires (which wasn't saying much).

It was Nahuel's turn afterwards. The three generals were intrigued to say at least. They also learned from Nahuel that he met Quileutes only recently.

"And this is where we are getting to the reason why we haven't told you earlier," interjected Jasper. "The thing is, Mr. Nahuel is the very first male dhampir we have found. The only one we actually know of, to be honest. I'm sure you can understand why a female one would be reluctant to come here."

"No. Why?" asked a general, though he could guess the answer.

"Out of fear of possible infringement of her... how to put this... sexual liberty," elaborated Jasper, making hesitant pauses on purpose. "And while I'm not aware of existence of any female dhampir who would be opposed to the idea of having children in general, these things aren't as simple as one might think and can't be rushed as one might rush production of tanks or air-planes."

"Yes, we get the picture," stopped him another one of the three generals. "That being said, are there any second generation dhampirs?"

"No, not yet. At least to our knowledge. Which seems bad, considering that they've been around for centuries. However, you need to account for the Volturi and the need to stay out of their radar. For all we know, they knew about dhampirs and the whole thing with the plague of immortal children was orchestrated to strike the idea out of minds of all vampires on the planet. Perhaps things will change now, when they are gone."

"Centuries," repeated Smith. "Isn't it little bit late for most of them?"

"No, actually not," answered Nahuel before he could stop himself.

There was a moment of silence.

Jasper cleared his throat and proposed, "I believe this to be a wrong time and place to discuss such things. Let's agree on what was stated when this was first brought up: This isn't a topic for today, it's a matter for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. What is a topic for today is this new kind of a vampire we have found in Huilen."

"You and your associates have been quite opposed to creating more vampires," reminded him one of the generals. "Why do you think we should take a different approach in this case?"

"I'm not saying we should create an army of these new vampires. However, it's much better option than ordinary ones. It certainly shifts the balance on the pros and cons scale. Hence, if you and your colleagues agree, I would advise to turn at least one soldier."

"But you didn't try that yet. Do you even know if you can recreate the process?"

"We have examined venom samples both from Huilen and Nahuel," answered Smith. "They are identical to each other and different from venom of usual vampires. Our educated guess is that Nahuel's venom is same from the chemical point of view now as it was when he was a child."

The three generals talked to each other for a while. They came to a conclusion to discuss the matter with their colleagues and should they agree, endorse such an experiment. As for Joham, Smith and Jasper had a free hand in dealing with him.

"Well, that was something," remarked Nahuel when they walked out of the room.

"Quite," agreed Jasper (though he thought so for different reasons than Nahuel). "What shall we do now?"

"Can we talk somewhere?"

"I know of a place," offered Smith.

They followed him to an apparation room. He teleported all four of them to a place in woods near the city.

"Well?" asked Smith.

Nahuel thought about what he was about to say.

"As I see it, there are only two options now," he said slowly in the end. "The question is, which one to take first."

"I'd suggest going after Joham," proposed Jasper. Just like Bella, he didn't like wild-cards running around.

"No, not yet. That's a third item on my list. There's something I need to do first."

Nahuel contemplated while Jasper and Smith waited. His aunt knew who was he talking about.

"I've told you about my sisters," continued Nahuel.

Smith nodded.

"There's one, the youngest one of them, whom I would like to shield from anything that's going to happen when we deal with Joham."

Jasper narrowed his eyes and asked, "This sister, does she live here in States?"

"Yes, in Ohio, as you have surely deduced."

Smith realized something and snorted at the coincidence.

"What?" growled Nahuel, not understanding.

Jasper explained about USS Ohio and the Romanian ancient.

"I know, that was unrelated," apologized Smith. "However, it seems like a sign, don't you think? Now, something occurred to me just before that. How old is your younger sister?"

Nahuel hesitated before answering, "Eighteen."

"Then we can bust Joham for responsibility for the death of her mother!" understood Jasper.

"What do you mean, bust?" asked Huilen.

"Arrest and put in prison."

Huilen found that absurd. Joham was responsible for more than that, even when not taking his feeding into consideration. She remained silent because a resolution like that was what Nahuel was hoping for.

"So, are we going back to Ohio to meet your sister?" asked Jasper.

Nahuel made an uncertain gesture.

"Look, I have very little doubt about your credibility at this point," he explained. "That doesn't automatically mean that I believe that you will go out of your way to humour me where my sister is concerned. I believe you will try to, yes. Trying won't prevent my sister from getting caught in our business with Joham and Serena and getting detained should things go sideways. I haven't even seen your dhampir yet."

He used the term "dhampir" without thinking about it.

"I don't think her parents will condone it," discouraged him Jasper. "Nor do I think that the Quileutes will condone it either for that matter. That's why they decided to come forward after all - to act as guarantors in her stead. They've agreed to answer more of your questions, if you'd like. And by the way, we haven't seen any of your sisters yet either."

"Once again, we are in a deadlock," sighed Smith.

"Why not do both at the same time?" proposed Huilen.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Jasper. Nahuel was puzzled as well.

"Think about it," continued Huilen. "I don't think that me, Nahuel, those two wolf-boys, and Mr. Smith will be able to convince Jennifer to betray her father."

Nahuel hissed. He didn't like her aunt mentioning his sister's name so soon.

"But this princess of yours, she could help us convince her," finished Huilen. "She could be the last straw to tip Jennifer over."

"Don't let her hear you calling her that way, if you ever meet her," advised her Jasper.

"If Jennifer defects, her sisters might follow," pondered Nahuel. "In the end, even Serena could give up and Joham will surrender."

"Hopefully," seconded Smith. "Alas, I believe that he will surrender thanks to my negotiating skills."

Nahuel turned to his aunt and proposed, "The question is, should you be there when we meet Jennifer? I don't think you should."

He spoke English for the sake of the others.

"If it's just you, Nahuel, then the probability of our dhampiresa coming along will be higher," allowed Jasper. Truth to be told however, he still couldn't imagine letting Bella and Edward letting her go.

"Very well, I suggest to reconvene in two days in Ohio," proposed Smith.

They parted ways. Jasper needed to talk to folks back home.

* * *

"You have to be kidding me," hissed Bella when Jasper told her what had been proposed.

"You have to acknowledge, he's trusting us a lot," argued Jasper.

"This Jennifer, if she exists, is fully mature. My daughter is not."

"Well, you'll just equip me with an emergency slingshot Portkey," suggested Elizabeth.

Emmett grinned. He imagined that if it was a film, a critic would be able to say that the author had stringed three random words together to make it seem sophisticated.

"And you, Fawkes, you will be there as well, right?" added Elizabeth.

Fawkes raised his head from a bowl of sunflower seeds and nodded. That was an quite a significant display of interest when compared to his passivity in last years.

Bella and Edward were still quite opposed. Jasper raised his hand and asked them to listen to him.

"Excuse me," he said when they fell silent. "I know where are you coming from. However, it's no longer a priority to keep Elizabeth's existence secret. What matters is that no one learns that she's your daughter."

"That's right," agreed Elizabeth. "You've been presenting me as somebody who was introduced to you by Quileutes. Let's keep it that way. I should arrive with Jacob and Seth."

"Now wait a minute," protested Edward. They had not even agreed to let Elizabeth go yet.

"You'll be nearby for crying out loud!" exclaimed Jasper. "The same goes for me. That means every gifted vampire in this family with the exception of Alice who won't be able to use her gift there."

"I can join you as well," offered Emmett.

"I wouldn't advise that," refused Jasper. "If we get discovered, four vampires would seem like a threat. Three is more than enough."

"OK, OK," boomed Bella, raised her hands to the height of her head. "I'm not saying no at this point. Let's go over this again."

She turned to Fawkes and addressed him, "Fawkes. I've got a serious question for you."

The bird made a sound telling her to go on.

"Will. You. Join. Us. On. This. Trip. And. Help. If. Needed?"

The bird made an affirmative reply. It didn't seem like he was expecting that anything was going to happen.

* * *

At a pre-agreed time, Jacob, Seth, and Elizabeth arrived to a spot near Jennifer's current address. Jasper, Nahuel, Huilen, and John Smith were waiting for them already. Edward and Bella had parted from heir daughter and wolves earlier. Fawkes was with them. Nahuel had called his sister before and told her that he was coming to visit her again. She had asked what had happened and he had told her that he had discovered something amazing.

Both wolves were in their human forms. Elizabeth was walking between them. Nahuel watched their approach. It was a rather powerful moment for him. The person in front of him was the only dhampir that he knew of who didn't kill her mother. Allegedly.

"Good morning," greeted him the young dhampiresa. "I'm Elizabeth."

"Hello," replied Nahuel and raised his hand to wave at her.

He introduced himself and his aunt. They awkwardly exchanged a few polite phrases.

Something didn't add up to Nahuel. He had been told that Elizabeth wasn't single. However, such a claim was contradicted by Elizabeth's age. He decided not to inquire because it was clear that they didn't want him to even consider the possibility. Maybe the real reason was because she was still too young for such things and to be honest, she actually was.

They talked a little. Elizabeth deflected most of their questions by stating that she wasn't supposed to talk about such things.

"Shall we get this show on the road?" asked Jasper after a while.

Nahuel nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come along?" asked Huilen.

"Maybe later," allowed Nahuel. "We'll see how it goes."

"We'll be right here," promised Jasper. The message was clear - he was going to be with Huilen.

The five people made some last clarifications regarding their "battle plan" and walked to Jennifer's house. They moved at human speed and not only for Smith's sake. While Jennifer lived on an edge of a town, there was still a possibility of being seen by people.

Jennifer noticed their approach when a breeze brought their scents to her. They were easily noticeable (with the exception of Smith) because of their difference from human scent. The mixture of scents confused her. She recognised her brother but the scent of the two wolves was unfamiliar. She didn't detect Elizabeth's scent right away.

Carefully, she took a peek from a window and spotted the approaching group. It didn't seem like Nahuel was under any kind of duress. She also noted the little girl. Breeze turned her way again and she smelled her this time around. Jennifer wondered whether the girl was the reason why Nahuel wanted to meet.

Nahuel walked up to the front entrance and raised his hand to knock. Of course, he was aware that Jennifer was approaching the door from the other side already. She opened the door before he could knock.

"Hi," breathed out Nahuel.

"Hi. Long time no see," joked Jennifer in reference to the fact that he had visited her just recently.

"We need to talk. Can we come in?"

"What's going on?" asked Jennifer and looked over Nahuel's companions.

She didn't understand what was the human doing there. The two strangely smelling young men puzzled her. Elizabeth gained most of her attention. Elizabeth opened her mouth a was about to say something when she was interrupted by Seth.

"Oh," he moaned. "This is..."

"Huh?" mumbled Jacob and turned at Seth.

"Hm," seconded Elizabeth as she processed what was happening.

"What?" asked Smith. He had never been briefed about this.

"I see..." uttered Jacob.

"What's this about?" demanded Nahuel.

"Yeah, I'm being awkward," murmured Seth.

"Nahuel?" asked Jennifer. "Maybe somebody could fill me in?"

"Look, maybe I should explain," proposed Jacob.

"No, I should talk to her," disagreed Elizabeth. "A girl to a girl. You can explain to Nahuel. And the others can join us."

Unbeknownst to her, Fawkes knew what was going on already.

"Very well," agreed Jacob. "Seth, do you think you could give us some space?"

"Yeah, sure," answered Seth sheepishly and shuffled away. Well, not really away. More like around the corner of Jennifer's house.

Jacob asked Smith to contact the others. Then he took Nahuel aside.

"So, you are a half-vampire like me," opened Jennifer when she was alone with Elizabeth in her kitchen.

"Dhampir," corrected Elizabeth. "A term half-vampire would suggest a vampire with some of the vampire features missing or lessened. Let's say somebody like Huilen."

Jennifer remained silent, waiting for the girl to continue.

"Oh my," uttered Elizabeth. "I wish uncle Emmett or Jared were here. They would say that this outcome was sooo predictable. Outcomes like these always are - in hindsight."

"Cut to the chase. What's that boy's deal?"

"Seth. You know, he's a really good kid. And funny too."

Jennifer frowned at Elizabeth sternly.

"OK, OK, here goes. Actually, not yet. I need to tell you a few things first. You'll get a full briefing from my mother later on when she arrives. So, let's begin with..."

Bella, Edward, and Fawkes met with Jasper and Huilen. Jasper introduced them. Even though he told Huilen that Bella was Elizabeth's mother, Huilen had to ask Bella whether that was correct to make sure. It was a surreal experience for her. Then she asked about Fawkes.

"Don't mind the bird," waved her Bella off. "Let's go join the others."

Fawkes trilled in approval.

They reached the house a little while later. Edward and Bella shook hands with Nahuel. It was yet another powerful moment for him, even when not considering the presence of the phoenix. Alas, Bella didn't linger and continued straight to Elizabeth and Jennifer, Fawkes on her shoulder.

She entered the kitchen just in time to hear Elizabeth say, "I wouldn't take it too seriously if I were you. Still, it can be quite a convenient mechanism, all things considered. Moreover, La Push represents your best shot at having a normal life without having to hide who you are all the time."

Elizabeth fell silent. Fawkes hopped off Bella's shoulder and landed on a kitchen line. It seemed like he was looking for cereals. Jennifer noted that Elizabeth looked similar to Bella indeed.

Bella shook hands with Jennifer, completely ignoring the bird behind her back. The dhampiresa couldn't decide whether to focus on the first women who survived dhampir pregnancy or on the phoenix. Bella noticed her looks.

"Don't mind the bird," repeated Bella.

"Mum, don't be mean," protested Elizabeth. "Jennifer, meet Fawkes. He's a miraculous plot-machine who has been at the core of many important events in last century. Speaking of which, you've been expecting this, Fawkes, right?"

Fawkes nodded and kept searching around.

Bella sat down and asked, "I've heard what you've been talking about. It got me thinking, why are you living here on your own? Is it to keep a lower profile?"

"Partly," answered Jennifer. "Serena and Maysun live together actually."

"Your father told you to live here so Nahuel would be more likely to keep visiting you."

"Yes. That's not all though. I agreed because it gave me an opportunity to clear my thoughts."

Bella was about to continue the conversation but then she looked at her daughter and back at Jennifer again. She excused herself for interrupting earlier and asked whether they wanted her to leave. Jennifer told her that she was OK with Bella staying there.

Later that day, Jennifer found Seth sitting on a bench behind the house. He raised his head, said, "Hi," and resumed looking at the ground again.

Jennifer returned the greeting. She didn't have to tell him that the others had explained the situation to her.

"You brother talked to me earlier," he told her. "We were pretty adamant about keeping him away from Elizabeth before. I think he's going to make us eat our own words."

"Sounds like him."

"If it helps, I'm probably more freaked out than you are. It's kind of early for me."

Jennifer made no answer.

"Look, it doesn't really mean anything," continued Seth. "Especially for you. And I guess Jacob told you that your... opinion on the matter won't affect our alliance with your brother. That being said, I think it would safer for you to move to La Push for a while. At least until the situation with your father is resolved."

"Yeah, I've talked about that with the others already."

There was a while of silence.

"You know, I wouldn't mind being friends," remarked Seth.

"OK. I could use more friends."

Another moment of silence.

"So, do you like Star Wars?" asked Seth.

"Actually, I'm rather a Star Trek person."

"I see."

* * *

Their plans and preparation for tackling Joham were finished in a few days. Bella and Edward stayed home with Elizabeth. Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie joined the task force. Jasper and Rosalie were armed with improved plasma guns. John Smith was going, of course. Both Huilen and Jennifer accompanied Nahuel. Jennifer was on board with their plan and willing to help. It was questionable whether Huilen's presence was going to help in any way but there was no way she was going to sit the confrontation out.

Participation of wolves was discussed a lot. In the end, Jacob and Seth were joined only by Leah and Quill. There was a worry that the dhampiressas would "disable" any wolves who were still single. Since the only other option was to bring other imprinted wolves out of retirement, these four wolves were all they had at the moment.

Fawkes behaviour was cryptic, as always. It didn't seem like he intended to be a part of the operation but he attended all their meetings and it appeared that he was going to be nearby. There was no point in dwelling over what his intentions were. He planned to be nearby as a backup most probably.

Serena and Maysun lived in a house similar to the Cullens' one, just smaller. It was convenient - no bystanders. Jennifer learned that Joham was visiting them at the moment.

The entire "strike force" approached together. There were no layers or multiple lines in case Joham slipped through those in front. They didn't make any attempts of stealth.

The strange mixture of scents alone alerted Joham and his daughters that they were surrounded. They recognized Nahuel and Jennifer. Combined with presence of Huilen and a number of unknown vampires, it didn't bode well. Joham's first thought was that Jennifer had betrayed him. He thought about their options. Run for it? Try to fight in the open? Fight them in the house?

Smith walked up to the main entrance and pressed a doorbell. When no one answered, he called, "Open the door! This is law enforcement!"

Nahuel stopped in front of a window from which Joham was looking out and told him, "Don't do anything stupid. We just want to talk."

"Just talk?" responded Joham. "Since when do you need to assure me that you want to just talk when you visit me?"

He was looking straight at Nahuel when he said that but when he was finished, his gaze slipped to Jennifer who wasn't far from Nahuel.

"Alohomora," incanted Smith and opened the door. They weren't locked, to be honest. "Since the moment the investigation of your part in the death of Miss Jennifer Brown started," he explained as he entered the house.

Serena put herself in his way. Smith raised a kinetic shield in front of himself.

"Have you ever met a wizard, my dear?" he asked. "If no, then you would be at a tactical disadvantage if you tried something." He didn't realize that he didn't do anything visible so far.

Nahuel and Jennifer followed right after Smith.

"It's OK, these people aren't our enemies," implored Jennifer.

"You have betrayed us!" snarled Serena. She was looking at Jennifer but it was Nahuel who answered her accusation.

"No, we have not! We are helping you."

"Excuse me," interrupted Smith. "You've just learned about existence of magic. I'm confused by your lack of reaction."

"Perhaps a more visual demonstration is needed," proposed Nahuel.

"Very well. Let's combine it with a display of our fire power," agreed Smith. "Could you please make a hole to my left?" he called outside.

Jasper fired a plasma bolt. It didn't just made a hole in the outer wall but some of it continued inside and dented a wall in the hallway. The inhabitants of the house jerked back.

"Splendid," commended Smith and retreated a little. He half turned and started fixing the outer wall. Any electronics around suffered but that was beside the point. Serena and the others couldn't believe their eyes.

"Now, you might ask yourself why have we come here with such a great numbers and arsenal," continued Smith. "I assure you, it's not our goal to intimidate you. That's how the Volturi operated, before they were destroyed. Our intention was to put any thought of attacking us out of your minds and to display that we are a side worth allying yourself with."

The information about the Volturi coaxed a reaction from Serena and Maysun.

"He didn't tell you!" exclaimed Nahuel in disbelief. "I understand why he kept things from me or even Jennifer but he should have told his oldest daughter at least."

"Well, there will be enough time for all of that in your briefing, should we reach an understanding," commented Smith. "Suffice to say for now is that you aren't alone in this world and I mean that in all possible meanings."

"Enough chitchat," stated Nahuel. "Maybe you ought to let us speak to Joham, sister. After all, it's unbecoming of him to hide behind his children."

Nahuel waved at Huilen. Per their plan, Seth phased into his human form, dressed, and joined them too.

They found Joham sitting in a living room. He was making sure to stay away from windows.

Nahuel sneered at him, "Using your daughters as a shield because you know that I would never let any harm come to them. Disgraceful."

"So is turning against your father," snarled Joham.

"Now, now, let's be diplomatic," advised Smith. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

When no response was given, he sat down anyway. Joham studied him for a moment before his eyes glazed over to Seth.

Smith followed his eyes and proposed, "Let's start with something more pleasant, if that's all right." He directed the last bit at Seth and Jennifer.

"Very well," agreed Jennifer and gestured towards Seth. "Father, this is my new friend."

"Hello," echoed Seth. "I'm... her new friend."

They were avoiding any names for the time being.

"For now," murmured Nahuel.

"See? That was something nice," remarked Smith. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Mr. Joham. I'm afraid they will have to wait because I'm not at liberty to answer them. You don't have necessary security clearance. In fact, you don't have any clearance at all."

"Let's get to the business," spoke Huilen.

"Let's," agreed Smith. He pierced Joham with his eyes and addressed him, "When we established cooperation with Mr. Nahuel, he had only one condition. That we fulfil his aunts request. And Ms. Huilen wanted us to help the two of them to deal with you. And so we were faced with a conundrum. How to deal with you and not antagonize your daughters? Another thing to consider was the fact that Pire died a long time ago so any part of yours on it is time-barred. However, the death of Miss Jennifer's mother is recent and, as I hinted when I entered this house, we are interested in your part in it."

"I didn't force her into anything," defended Joham himself, not wanting to believe that Smith was serious.

"Can you produce an evidence, such as a written consent, that Ms. Jennifer participated in your experiment with full knowledge of what was about to happen? If the answer is yes, we can still talk about assisted suicide. Moreover, other women survived a dhampir pregnancy. Not as humans, of course, but I believe that modern and magical medicine could make even that possible."

"That's a good point," interjected Jennifer. "You could have turned my mother. You could have turned all our mothers."

"And that, Mr. Joham, is an evidence of malicious intent. I'm afraid you are going to spend quite a few years in prison."

"Is this a joke?" asked Joham.

"If you doubt our ability to effectively incarcerate you, then no, it's isn't a joke. But maybe you are doubting the idea of a trial and conviction. And that is a spot where we hit a snag a where you do have bargaining chip. The thing is, existence of dhampirs is a secret which only a handful of people know about. There are no judges among those people. So I propose a deal."

"A deal?"

"You will admit your guilt and go quietly. You'll also advise your daughter Serena to be wise about all of this. After all, we are taking a considerable risk by exposing ourselves to two possibly rogue dhampirs."

"Serena and Maysun will be wise about this," remarked Nahuel. "Unless they wish to remain alone for the rest of their lives."

"You are really serious about me going to prison," observed Joham. "On whom do you expect me to feed there? Other prisoners? Or are you going to send me people in there?"

"Dear Lord!" exclaimed Smith. "Surely you aren't insinuating that you intend to feed on people or that you have done such a thing recently. That would a murder - a very serious crime. Too many of those could even get you a death sentence. However, to answer your question, you will be provided with sustenance. Nothing that other vampires don't drink too."

"You are forgetting something. What's in it for me?"

"You mean beside your life and prosperity and happiness of your daughters? Well, there are actually things which we can offer. We can sate your scientific curiosity for example. Once you are tightly locked up and we will be sure that you won't go running around and spilling our secrets to everybody you meet, we might share some of our findings about dhampir race. Let's be honest, you haven't found much so far other than that dhampirs exist and how are they created. Who knows, if you play nice, we might even allow you to work with us."

Joham remained silent. That last sentence affected him more than anything else that had been said.

"For example, we would love to learn more about Huilen's kind of vampires," continued Smith.

"Hey!" protested Huilen. "I'm not letting him to touch me!"

"No need for that," assured her Smith.

Joham shared a look with Serena before he turned at Smith again and answered, "Very well, let's discuss the conditions."

"Let's," agreed Smith.


	16. A Raid

A Raid

John Smith, Hermione, and the head of the American "balloon team" boarded a peculiar air vessel. It consisted of three helium balloons carrying a platform between them. There was a pressurized cabin in the middle of it. On top of the cabin was their payload. It looked like another, smaller, deflated balloon.

While Smith and the other American entered the cabin, Hermione remained outside. She wore a high altitude suit. Smith checked a weather report one last time and they took off.

When they rose above ten kilometres, looking out of windows started to make Smith nauseated. It wasn't possible to look down from inside the cabin but the sight of the curved horizon was sufficient.

"Is this a bad time to tell you that I probably don't like heights?" he informed the others.

"What are you talking about?" replied Hermione through radio. "You've been in an airplane before."

"Not one which flew so high."

They reported down to their flight control when they reached the top of stratosphere. It was time to deploy the experiment.

Hermione prepared the other balloon. There was some minor spell casting. When she was done, it rose into the mesosphere. The two men inside the cabin kept an eye on it through remote controls. It successfully reached the targeted altitude. Their flight control congratulated them for breaking the world record in (unmanned) ballooning.

Second part of the experiment came about an hour later. The enchantments depleted themselves a little and they wanted to test their recharging. It was something they had experimented with heavily on ground but they needed to do it under real conditions.

"Everything seems all right from here," observed Smith when Hermione was done. "Can we return down now?"

They had to, in fact. Wind came and started to blow them away faster than they could compensate. They left the small balloon deployed though.

* * *

Another Christmas arrived. There was no big get-together like the last time. For one, Jasper was away training two soldiers turned into "half-vampires" by Huilen's venom. Charlie was working and couldn't come. On the other hand, Andromeda and Teddy accepted Cullens' invitation again rather than celebrating Christmas with the Clearwaters. Bella suspected that Andromeda was taking an example from her and Edward in regards to Teddy and Leah spending too much time together.

Jennifer was spending the holiday in La Push, with the Clearwaters. She and Seth were still only friends but Sue believed that she should get to know their family better. Leah had yet to warm up to the dhampir but she was civil to her.

Both Nahuel and Huilen had been invited to the Cullen house for Christmas. However, they had never celebrated the holiday and saw no reason to start. Both of them were helping Jasper at the moment but they planned to go back to South America for a while soon.

A noteworthy discovery was made about Huilen (and the two turned soldiers) during that time. An ordinary (or true) vampire had no problem with prolonged exposure to vacuum. That proved not to be entirely true for "half-vampires". It was discovered that Huilen's breath contained a small amount of carbon dioxide. This amount was normally barely measurable but increased during physical exertion. After much deliberation, Huilen agreed to expose herself to a low pressure environment. While the low pressure itself had no effect on her, prolonged oxygen deprivation caused sluggishness and drowsiness. There didn't seem to be any long-term effects afterwards but there was no telling what would happen to a vampire of Huilen's kind after, let's say, years in the vacuum of space.

This discovery had an important implication: Normal vampires were irreplaceable in the long run because no one else could operate in space indefinitely without life support. Then again, Huilen's kind of a vampire equipped with an oxygen supply was almost as good.

Hermione Granger called on Boxing Day. It was a purely social call as both her and the Cullens regularly learned anything work-related (such as discover of diluted vampires) through official channels.

It started to snow heavily afterwards and Elizabeth went to La Push to enjoy the snow with her friends while it lasted. Bella found Edward sitting on a sofa and browsing a family photo-album afterwards. He seemed to be rather emotional. Bella thought about talking to him about it but it was much simpler to use telepathy.

"She's growing up so quickly," he repeated (needlessly) what he had told with his mind already.

Bella didn't need to ask to know that he wasn't saying that because Elizabeth was a dhampir. It was more like a general sentiment of all fathers watching their daughters turn into women. A thought crossed Bella's mind that Elizabeth's growth rate was actually slowing down. That was to be expected - Jennifer had told them all they needed to know about their daughter's future. She decided not to remind Edward about it.

* * *

Jasper's trainees finished basic training and were "bloodied" on a young rogue vampire in Mexico. Cornering him in a secluded area away from witnesses proved to be a bigger challenge than actually disposing of him.

An opportunity for a much greater test of their mettle appeared soon. A lead came to them from a most unlikely source. Dragons in the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary (where Charlie Weasley still worked) grew agitated for no apparent reason. Ginny didn't see much of her family any-more but Hermione encouraged her to maintain contact with Bill (because he worked for goblins) and Charlie (because of dragons). And so it happened that Charlie mentioned this to his sister when she visited him during Christmas. She found it odd and it rang a distant bell for her. She mentioned it to Hermione who remembered a report about Carlisle's visit to the American experimental colony. Was it possible that there was a large presence of vampires somewhere near the colony?

Hermione brought the matter to Eldridge. They agreed that it was ill-advised to bring in Edward to search for any vampire hive. If the Romanian coven was involved then any ancients or semi-ancients would surely detect his "radar".

In the meantime, the dragons were growing increasingly restless. Hermione briefed her superiors about that and submitted her theory. That was when the matter was brought to Jasper's attention as well. He had certain qualms about it being a trap but he agreed to lend a hand.

It took some time but they managed to confirm it - there was a hive of vampires in the Carpathian Mountains. Hermione had to wonder what were they trying to accomplish. Was it their intention to arouse the dragons? Such a thing would surely occupy a lot of wizards.

* * *

Jasper gave a command and the attack commenced. A bomber dropped two bunker busters at a mountain side which contained a cave system they intended to raid. Not that the vampires residing in those caves were going to be harmed much by the bombs but collapsing some of the tunnels was going to put their defences in disarray and perhaps separate their forces.

"Proceed," commanded Jasper two changed soldiers in front of him. "Be careful, don't rush ahead."

The soldiers began their approach. Jasper and Bella activated (or rather pre-activated) their short-range slingshot Portkeys and followed after them. All four of them were armed by plasma rifles.

The surviving British soldier which Jasper had turned into a full vampire years ago was involved as well, of course. He was waiting on the other side of the mountain where they suspected a second exit from the caves. He had wished to be a part of the assault on the front entrance originally. Alas, Jasper needed to take command of that one personally because he needed to oversee his new guys. Thus, it made more sense for the Brits to guard possible escape routes. Ginny was there as well (in case a teleportation was needed) but she was instructed not to use magic unless necessary (because of Alice).

Two wolves were on standby in a plane, ready to be parachuted in. However, the terrain wasn't ideal for them and Jasper didn't want them to disrupt Alice's vision so it was only a last resort measure.

Jasper's group stopped when they were some distance away from an entrance. The two soldiers tossed a few incendiary grenades in there. On Jasper's signal, the group continued. He didn't wish to be in vicinity of dying vampires so he was keeping back, prepared to lend assistance if needed.

The raid proved a rather routine event for most of the time. None of the vampires were armed or equipped with magical instruments. None of them was particularly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. There were newborns, of course, but their strength didn't matter against armed opponents.

There was a moment when a vampire slipped past the two soldiers using some kind of a gift. It didn't work on Bella. He tried to rush her when he was discovered but Bella and Jasper took him down before he could get close. Jasper contacted a team of (human) soldiers waiting outside and ordered them to take position in the entrance to the caves.

Drama came only at the very end. They arrived to a fork. Judging by the draft coming from both tunnels, neither of those were a dead end. Fresh scent of vampires was coming from both.

Jasper and Bella remained behind to guard the larger tunnel and sent the soldiers to scout the smaller one. An attack came shortly afterwards. Repelling it cost Bella and Jasper the rest of their plasma fuel and almost all their incendiary grenades.

When all went quiet around them again, they heard a commotion from the other tunnel. Jasper nodded at Bella who went to investigate.

When she arrived, she saw one of the soldiers depriving a semi-ancient vampire of his limbs. The other soldier was on the ground, his head separated from his body. He was still alive but he seemed to be in shock.

Bella recognized the semi-ancient. He wasn't a Death Eater but he had been a Voldemort follower and he was wanted, dead or alive.

At the moment, the decapitated soldier was of greater importance however. They attached the head back to its place and the flesh started to reknit itself. The head seemed to "fall asleep" from the oxygen deprivation in the meantime so there was no telling whether the spinal cord was going to be all right.

"Keep holding him like that," ordered Bella and checked on the semi-ancient whose hands were attempting to crawl to his body.

"I know who you are!" snarled the semi-ancient.

"Ditto," replied Bella and secured his limbs.

Jasper gave some orders. Soldiers moved in and fetched a stretcher. Ginny's group started to search for possible back entrances into the caves. They found one and started to clean the caves from their end.

Jasper, Bella, and the unharmed soldier laid the disabled one on the stretcher. While the others carried him outside, Bella was tasked with bringing the semi-ancient one along. That made sense because she was the only one who was immune to any tricks he might have.

Bella thought about what should she do with the torn limbs. She decided that there was no reason to give the semi-ancient one (who was most probably younger than she was) false hopes and started to burn the limbs. It was excruciating for the vampire to watch. Not being able to do anything else, he started to insult her.

"Look at you!" he growled. "Daughter of the great Bellatrix Lestrange, now just a measly wild vampire."

Bella didn't react and picked him up. She caught up with the others. Ginny joined them.

"Do you recognize him?" asked Bella.

Ginny shook her head so Bella refreshed her memory.

"During the war with Voldemort, he was taking commands guess from whom?" asked Bella in the end.

"The same Death Eater who went looking for the Romanians after the war," surmised Ginny.

"Exactly. Let's take a look."

Bella attacked the semi-ancient's mind.

"Fool, you can't break my mind!" laughed at her the vampire.

"You aren't first to claim that," muttered Bella and continued.

The vampire wasn't a good occlumens during his human life. Reading his mind was difficult but ultimately far from impossible. The results were disappointing though.

"Damn it!" cursed Bella.

"What is it?" asked Jasper.

"He was in charge of the hive and yes, he was changed by our Death Eater. However, he doesn't know anything and he hasn't seen his creator for ages. He was merely following orders given to him through a middleman. Do you remember that guy who tried to slip by us? That was our lead."

"Well, damn," commented Jasper.

The decapitated soldier woke up then. He seemed sound mentally but he grew alarmed when he realized that he couldn't move or even feel his body.

"Calm down! Calm down!" urged him Jasper and used his gift on him. "Your spine just needs a moment to heal properly."

The other soldier hoisted a canister of gasoline and asked, "So, are we going to do it?"

"Go ahead."

A few minutes later, the semi-ancient's shrieks were ended by the flames.

Jasper and the other soldier carried their disabled comrade to a chopper. Jasper considered staying and helping with a clean-up but Bella told him that she would be OK on her own. After all, a decapitated half-vampire was something new and it deserved his personal attention.

After they left, Bella contacted the British vampire. It seemed like they were about done too. Bella called the wolves and asked them to make a circle around the whole area and look for any trails. She and Ginny remained outside the caves, prepared to lend hand if needed.

* * *

While the reason for the agitation of the dragons was gone, it seemed that it was going to take a long time for every one of them to calm down. Some of those who weren't native to the area flew away and returned to places of their origin.

A debriefing was held in London for all higher-ranking involved.

"All of that just to rankle some dragons?" asked one of higher-ups. "At a price of such great losses?"

"Only one," corrected him Bella. "They lost only one vampire - the one who tried to slip past us. The semi-ancient was an expendable and untalented lackey and all the other vampires were his."

"One lost operative," echoed Hermione. "Quite a low price, considering the troubles they caused to everybody. The Romanian Dragon Sanctuary had to hire new wizards and recall some from retirement. Cattle consumption multiplied due to dragons coming out of slumber. I'm not even talking about resources used for this operation."

"And they tested our defences yet again," added Jasper. "The more they know about us and our capabilities, the more vulnerable we are. At least our new recruits gained some combat experience."

"Speaking of which, how's the recovery of the decapitated one going?" asked Hermione.

"He should make a full recovery, in time. Carlisle will be keeping him for observation."

After the meeting, Bella and Jasper spoke with Hermione privately.

"I guess you've been wondering where did we get this diluted venom which we have used to turn our soldiers," opened Jasper.

"You didn't develop it yourself?" asked Hermione and her eyes flicked to Bella. To be honest, she assumed that it was her discovery.

Jasper explained about dhampirs without revealing anything concrete. Hermione was intrigued. She knew the concept from non-magical fiction but it was a surprise for her to learn that it was actually real. Not once did she connect the dots and thought about Bella. She knew about her marriage to Edward but she didn't think it was anything like human marriage.

They promised to arrange a meeting with a dhampir in foreseeable future.

* * *

Later that year, Eldridge confirmed through his contacts something which Jasper already suspected. Almost any vampire, who was informed enough to be aware of the Denalis, also knew about La Push, its role in the greater scheme of things, and the fact that they worked with another "vegetarian" coven. The Cullens theorized that if an ordinary vampire knew that much, it was also conceivable that the Romanians knew even more.

There was no point in trying to figure out how or why that much information leaked. They weren't aware of leaving any witnesses during their operations but maybe too many people knew about them. The wolves of La Push were a common knowledge (though not widely known) among wizards - there was no reason why Death Eaters shouldn't be able to learn about them and tell the Romanians.

The bottom line was that they had to improve their defences. They could ask Smith to send them a team of warders but they wanted their own solution. Conveniently, Andromeda and Elizabeth managed to make a breakthrough in their effort.

This was preceded by three significant changes in Elizabeth's life. The first one was a huge increase in Fawkes's interest in Elizabeth. He started to spend far more time with her than before. That alone wasn't so significant but it was a sign of other things to come.

The other two were changes in her magic and her first period which came shortly before her fifth birthday. Bella and Carlisle theorized whether these two were somehow related. Bella most certainly didn't remember any such thing about herself. Then again, she had been able to control her magic since she had been a little child. She also didn't remember other girls in her year to talk about it. Then again, she had not socialised with other girls when she had attended Hogwarts.

Given the circumstances, Bella decided for a little experiment even though she had little faith in its success. She let Elizabeth hold her old wand again. There was no reaction but that was no surprise. Elizabeth's magic was nothing like the wizarding one.

That year, Alice convinced Elizabeth to have a birthday party. Her last two birthdays had been rather diminished and Alice thought that they were due for a compensation. Elizabeth was against it in the beginning. She felt like they wanted to celebrate her womanhood which seemed weird to her. Moreover, she was worried that the whole affair with her rapid maturing was upsetting her father a bit. Then Bella talked to her and assured her that it wasn't the case.

"Well, he seems rather not himself lately," argued Elizabeth.

"That's completely normal, I think. From what I understand, every father who truly loves his daughter feels this way when he sees her growing up and eventually leaving the home and getting married."

Elizabeth grimaced but only jokingly.

"And in our case, it's all accelerated and compressed," continued Bella. "With your rapid growth and Jacob being in the picture from the very beginning. Don't worry though, it's all part of being... human, I guess."

"Human? Are you talking about dad?"

"Oh yes. When your father married me and we decided to have you, he essentially resumed the human life he would have a century ago. He knew what he was signing up for. Well, he probably didn't because no one really does but he understood that."

They hugged.

"And they say you don't have feelings," jested Elizabeth.

"And who says that they are wrong?" shot Bella back.

In the end, the birthday was a slightly bigger affair. Apart from the usual guests, there were also Huilen, Nahuel, and Jennifer. John Smith also accepted an invitation. He was working with them for so long that he was practically a family friend. From the Denali, only Tanya came. Jasper didn't think it wise for more of them to come - too much of a target.

Elizabeth's stomach was somewhat stronger than it had been three years earlier so there didn't have to be as many compromises regarding refreshments as the last time. She even made a cake - a carrot one with a special emphasis on carrots.

Most guests made comments about how much she had grown when they hugged her and wished her happy birthday. After hearing "you aren't a little girl any more" for third time, she started to get tired of hearing it.

When Smith arrived, Elizabeth noticed that he carried a middle-sized bag. After he shook her hand and wished her happy birthday, Bella took him aside. Elizabeth heard something like "Do you've got it?" and Smith raised his bag.

Bella watched as Smith and Charlie shook hands. They knew each other, of course, but they had never had a chance to socialise. Perhaps it was going to be interesting for Charlie to talk with a former "magical cop".

There was a cake blowing. An uninformed observer would find the image of a young miss blowing five candles on a cake strange but none of the present people even thought about it. She was only five and yet she was a teenager. It was a natural aspect of hers.

Her parents gave her an SMG. They agreed that it was time for her to have her first proper gun. It didn't come as a surprise, she had already tried it out so they could do some basic customisations.

"You have to be kidding me," hissed Charlie.

"Well, they think that an assault rifle should be left for next time," replied Jasper sarcastically.

What was a surprise was Smith's gift. He gave her some kind of a magazine pouch. Elizabeth's senses detected expanded space inside.

"It's not finished," explained Smith. "Just the container and the space inside."

"We'll help you set up the inside of it later," added Edward. He was talking about some mechanism of securing magazines inside and fetching them comfortably. Perhaps some kind of a circular belt.

Andromeda gave her a potion making kit (Elizabeth had been using Bella's or Andromeda's till then).

In the end, Elizabeth and Jacob asked everybody to go outside. Bella and Edward knew already what they wanted to show them - the bikes. Elizabeth and Jacob went to the garage where they had hidden them. There wasn't enough space to actually drive them so they just pushed them out and started the engines.

"This is our gift to ourselves," explained Elizabeth.

"We actually started this project with Bella years ago," divulged Jacob.

"You'll break your neck on this infernal machine," admonished Charlie Elizabeth and gave Jacob a disapproving look.

"Oh come on," retorted Emmett. "As long as she doesn't start doing drugs, she'll be OK."

Later on during the party, Edward approached Charlie with two bottles in hands. One of them was a beer, the other had the NASA emblem on it. He asked him if they could talk in private.

There were people in the backyard so they went to take a walk on the driveway.

"I've been thinking with whom could I possibly talk about this," started Edward and handed Charlie the beer and a bottle opener. "Carlisle doesn't really have any experience with it and I can't possibly talk to Billy Black, even though he has two daughters."

"I think it's clear to me what's this about," said Charlie and opened his beer. "But I'm not sure if I can be of any help. When Bella arrived, she was all grown up already."

He wanted to give the opener back to Edward but he saw that he opened his bottle with his bare hand already.

"Well, the only other option is Mrs. Tonks," argued Edward. "Cheers."

They clinked the bottles and took a swig. Edward stepped off the road immediately and sputtered the drink in underbrush.

"Sorry about that," he apologized and replaced the cap. "It's supposed to emulate the taste of beer but it seems that there's still a long way to go."

Charlie merely muttered in acknowledgement.

"Not that I've ever tasted beer in my human life," continued Edward. "Just wine, on several social occasions."

Charlie thought that such a thing certainly sucked.

"You know, I talked to Billy often after Rebecca and Rachel left," he divulged. "He wasn't happy about it but the best thing he could do was not to try to make them stay and to make sure that La Push would always remain their home, even when they didn't live there. Now they are both back home. Though Rebecca and her husband might want to move back to Hawaii for their retirement."

"So, you are saying that we shouldn't try to influence their choices?" asked Edward. He meant parents by "we" and children by "their".

"No, I'm not saying that. Honestly, I don't know. There was never any opportunity for me to influence Bella nor did she ever needed my counsel. Talk about one eyed man asking a blind one for help."

"Now, don't sell yourself short. Bella told you that you were more of a father figure to her than Sirius or Mr. Tonks and she meant it. So I guess you were doing something right."

Elizabeth and Jacob whizzed pass them on their motorbikes.

"Well, at least they are wearing helmets," remarked Edward.

* * *

About a month after the birthday, Andromeda and Elizabeth announced that they were prepared to demonstrate their solution (for the ward). They called for a meeting. The Cullens, the active pack, and some others (Sam, for example) convened in a wood in La Push. Fawkes was there too. He sat on a branch some distance away and observed.

Andromeda and Elizabeth stood next to some kind of pedestal on top of which was some strange apparatus. Only Bella had some vague idea about their solution because she had been talking to Elizabeth.

"We believe that we've created first working solution," announced Andromeda, going straight to the point. "We'll demonstrate and explain it now."

She pulled some kind of a crystal and asked whether somebody knew what it was.

"It's a court crystal," answered Bella. "Some ministries of magic used to utilize these to record trials. Some still do. The work on a similar principle as atomic hard drives."

Andromeda nodded and inserted the crystal into the contraption.

"Have you found out how to program a ward using these?" continued Bella.

"More or less," confirmed Elizabeth. "It's a two stage process."

"First, a spell caster needs to create a generic ward linked to this device," explained Andromeda. "That's done by a spell of my own devising. Please make space."

Everybody stepped back, only Elizabeth remained. Andromeda cast some kind of a spell. The incantation was similar to other ward spells. At the end of the wand movement, Andromeda pressed the tip of the wand against a certain point at the device. Almost everybody could see a magical dome shimmer in the air for a moment. It was several meters in diameter wide.

Then it was Elizabeth's turn. While Andromeda stepped away, she put her hands on hand-shaped indentations on the device. She concentrated for a while before she nodded at Andromeda. The witch cast _Lumos_ and walked back to Elizabeth slowly. When she reached the perimeter of the ward, a little light lighted up on the device.

"Is that a LED?" whispered Emmett.

"As you can see, the ward detected an active spell trying to enter the area," commented Elizabeth. "That is, an active _Lumos_ spell. We haven't tested it with other spells. Camouflage ones, for example. Also, we would like it to be as friendly to electronic devices as possible."

"I see. Can it detect a vampire?" asked Jasper.

"Well, that's we want to experiment with."

And experiment they did. Most attendants left after an hour of no success (including Andromeda who needed to pick Teddy up from Clearwaters). Bella, Edward, and a few others remained to help Elizabeth. Fawkes observed it all and left only when Elizabeth succeeded several hours later.

As the experimentation with this new ward progressed, a question was faced. How were they going to create the ward large enough to cover the entire reservation? Something like that was way out of Andromeda's power and asking John Smith for help wouldn't make much difference. Because of this, they had to come up with something unconventional.

They conceived the ward as a bubble. Andromeda created it only big enough to cover a building. Then it was Elizabeth's turn. She was not only able to program its properties but also change its shape and size. It wasn't something that could be done quickly and "inflating" the ward was especially taxing. She believed that she would be able to strengthen it faster than it could deteriorate but they projected that the growth of the ward would slow down dramatically towards the end.

They tried to find out if Bella couldn't somehow use her considerable power to help with this but any attempts in this regard failed, just like before. Bella wasn't able to make her magical energy flow into the device or her daughter for that matter. They researched various obscure areas of magic such as blood magic and other arts based on relation but there wasn't any success either.

Jasper brought up the idea of the goblin technology which had been used to power the beacon which the Romanians had smuggled into Fort Knox. Alas, it was clear even to him that it was a dead end. They had no idea how such a thing worked and what kind of resources were needed for it. As a matter of fact, they hoped that no one but goblins themselves knew this secret. According to their latest intelligence, nothing indicated that the Romanians actually possessed this technology. Bella argued that maybe the Romanian merely wanted to make it look like that but it was all a guesswork.

One of the most realistic ideas which were left was for the pack members to learn how to tap the magic inside them and help Elizabeth out. They were out one day with Elizabeth and Andromeda, attempting to go through some mental exercises which the old witch prescribed. It was then when Elizabeth got a strange vibe from Fawkes who was, as usual, observing form a nearby tree.

"You know what?" she spoke out. "This doesn't lead anywhere. If we were able to figure this out in foreseeable future, Fawkes would let us know. Just look at him. Everything about his posture says that we are wasting our time."

Fawkes made an affirmative sound. The wolves didn't protest.

"I guess you are right," agreed Andromeda. "What do you propose them?"

"I think that Fawkes has something in mind. Let's just focus on finishing the central unit and getting started. Anything else can be done later."

They did as she said. Bella assisted Andromeda and Elizabeth in construction of the final version of the control unit. The goal was to make it possible to expand it later on, after it was activated. A single unit couldn't cover the entire reservation so they created a number of auxiliary units. Each of these unit had to be activated by Andromeda by the same spell used on the central unit. All of them were connected through quantum entanglement. Just like everything else, this too was modular and expandable. Each auxiliary unit had an entanglement crystal inside it. The central unit had slots for inserting twins of those crystals.

They needed to decide where to put the central unit. One of the ideas was to place it in a cellar of one of the pack families. The advantage of this option was that the device would be under someone's watch at all times. On the other hand, Andromeda didn't want to be responsible if there were some side effects of being near the device. Also, it could be dangerous if the device was damaged or overloaded. Many other options were out because they didn't wish to place it anywhere near the beach, such as the police building, council building, and such.

"What about putting it in a secret bunker under the cemetery?" proposed Emmett. It wasn't apparent whether he was joking until he added, "It's right in the middle of the area and no one will expect it there."

"It doesn't have to be in the middle," reminded him Carlisle. "And you can't build a secret bunker there. Everybody would notice and you could accidentally disturb some graves."

In the end, it was decided to put it in a shooting range which had been built a few years back. Or rather under it, to be precise. The security in the place was quite tight as it was due to guns and ammunition stored there.

When all was prepared, Andromeda cast the initial seed of the ward and Elizabeth started to expand it. That was when something strange happened between Fawkes and Elizabeth. He was always there with her when she worked on the ward and was helping her somehow. That was good news, it meant that the ward was going to cover La Push much faster than they expected. Soon enough, Andromeda added first auxiliary unit and then another and another.

Another peculiar thing concerning Fawkes and the ward happened a month later. He woke Elizabeth up in a middle of a night. Bella and Edward were away on a mission. Elizabeth put some clothes on quickly and grabbed a gun. She bumped into Carlisle in a hallway.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I haven't noticed anything out of order," he answered.

"Then what does Fawkes want?" uttered Elizabeth and looked out of a window where she could see a storm gathering.

Carlisle said "storm" at the same time as Elizabeth said "the ward". It was clear that their work was in danger, Fawkes wouldn't be acting out otherwise. She ran out of the house where Fawkes snatched her and flamed her to La Push.

Andromeda Tonks and others were up and running already by that time. There was no need to say anything, it was quite clear what the potential problem was.

"OK, we'll address this properly one day but today, we'll just lower the field for tonight," stated Elizabeth when she put her hands on the control unit. "The trick is doing it without damaging or destroying it."

They had never attempted to do such a thing before, just like they had never contemplated a possibility of a lightning storm affecting the ward. Luckily, Elizabeth wasn't a mere human and managed to do it right on the first try. The storm came and passed over and the ward was raised again in the morning.

Bella returned soon and researched the matter extensively together with her aunt and daughter. Usually, magical wards didn't have to worry about electric storms, mainly because they were tethered to land or buildings. However, the La Push solution was very different and tethered to devices, even though those weren't mobile. That was something they had to address. There was one good thing about what had happened though - it proved the flexibility of the entire system.

Elizabeth hoped to create a more robust solution for the problem one day and possibly somehow utilize the energy from lightning. In the meantime, she needed to be near the central unit. It was inconvenient for her to be away from La Push when she was the only one who could control the ward. She told her parents that it would be better for her to spend more time in La Push and to sleep there. After all, it was inconvenient for the vampires to have a sleeping person in the house.

"You can't stay with Jacob," opposed Edward. "That would be inappropriate."

"I was thinking about aunt Andromeda," retorted Elizabeth.

"I don't know if she's going to be OK with that," pondered Bella.

Surprisingly enough, the witch didn't mind to have Elizabeth to stay with her and Teddy for a while. After all, the ward was as much of her creation as it was Elizabeth's. Also, Elizabeth didn't plan to be there at all times. To prepare for any more unexpected events and to avoid reliance on Fawkes, Andromeda furnished Elizabeth with a Portkey which would take her in vicinity of the shooting range.

Another thing they thought about was setting up a network of nodes for detecting ancient vampires. However, they decided in the end that it would be a wasted effort. - for the same reasons why nobody was setting networks around the White House, nuclear power-plants, or nuclear silos. The purpose of the satellite detection network was to catch a single ancient vampire who was somewhere on the planet. It was highly improbable that he would personally attack one of such hard targets - that's why he had created his underlings. Moreover, there was still the ward version of ancient vampire detection and they were sure that the current ward could be "programmed" for that if needed.

* * *

John Smith and two astronauts from NASA flew in mesosphere in a rather strange craft. It looked like an UFO with a balloon on top of it. The outer ring of the disc had the same enchantments as flying broomsticks.

"This is the first time we are able to examine mesosphere in such a way!" remarked one of the astronauts.

"Not to mention that we are breaking the altitude record in manned balloon flight," added the other.

"Technically, this isn't a balloon," commented Smith in a tight voice. Once again, the height was making him uneasy. Alas, there were reasons why he was there.

They were hit by an atmospheric tide. Their craft rocked gently. Smith moaned and downed a potion to keep his stomach calm. The astronauts resumed their sample collection.

* * *

Hermione met her guests in her parlour. After a quick confirmation that they were truly Bella and Edward, she dismissed her bodyguards. The third guest baffled her. The budding young woman wasn't human, that much was clear. Nor was she a vampire or a diluted vampire. Logic told her that she had to a be dhampir. That wasn't what baffled her though. There was something strangely familiar about the girl.

"Hello," she said, extending her hand. "I don't believe we had the pleasure yet."

"Elizabeth," replied the girl before Bella could introduce her and shook Hermione's hand. "I obviously know who you are."

Hermione noted her elevated temperature.

"Hermione, this is our daughter," revealed Bella.

Hermione's otherwise brilliant brain failed to acknowledge the word "daughter" and to understand the word "our". For a moment, she thought that "our" meant Bella and herself - which was completely ridiculous.

"What do you mean, ours?" she asked.

"Well, you know," Bella gestured between herself and Edward. "Mine and Edward's. We are married, as you know."

"Huh," murmured Hermione and sat down. Only then she fully thought about the word "daughter".  
"Daughter," she echoed. "You've got a daughter?" The idea was completely unbelievable.

"Yes, that's what she said," confirmed Edward.

Elizabeth shared a confused look with her parents, not really sure about what was she supposed to do.

"You mean, your biological daughter?" continued Hermione, ignoring Edward.

"Indeed. Can't you tell?"

"I see the resemblance, yes. But how?"

Edward and Bella shared a brief look.

"Well, the usual way," explained Bella. "We got married after the battle of Hogwarts and a stork delivered her to our doorstep."

Hermione had no other option but to accept the facts. It took her a few moments.

"I didn't know you were interested in having a family," she said in the end.

"Well, I planned to become a vampire so I told myself now or never. Didn't this occur to you when we revealed the existence of dhampirs to you?"

"Truth to be told, no, it didn't. Or maybe I was simply too considerate to bring it up. You know, with you being a vampire and unable to have children. Oh dear..."

Bella furrowed her brows. Was it sadness she was detecting in her friend's voice? She gave a quick mental signal to the others to give them space.

"Hermione, I didn't mean to upset you. Were you diagnosed as, you know, unable...?"

"No, I'm perfectly healthy, thank you very much. It's mitosis that I'm incapable of. Not that I would want to have children that way."

Bella remained silent, waiting for her to continue. Truth to be told, she was spooked out a bit by the situation.

"I'm sorry," continued Hermione. "It's just, I sometimes think about all those things I'm missing on while building my career. And all this time, I was telling myself that you didn't have any children either and you were OK with it. And now you are telling me that you've been a mother for all this time."

She took a handkerchief from her pocket and cleaned her nose.

"And this reminds you what's missing in your life."

"Yes. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you."

Bella rubbed her forehead and reasoned, "Why are you talking like someone who's thirty years old? Most women your age don't even think about such things yet. Some are married yes, but they usually want to finish PHD and have a career before starting a family."

"You could come to La Push and find some comely boy there," pipped Elizabeth.

"Hush, that's not Hermione's style," silenced her Bella. "Is there anybody who's close to you?" she asked.

"No, only Ginny."

Bella paused for a moment. "You mean like...?" she wondered tentatively.

"No, of course not!" snapped Hermione. "I mean, we kissed once but it was totally weird and we decided to be just friends."

"Wow," commented Bella after a while,

Elizabeth resisted an urge to ask what was it like.

"I take it that Ron is a dead case," stated Bella.

"Do you even have to ask?"

"What about Krum?"

"He got married. Didn't even invite me to his wedding."

"Well, I guess he didn't want to make it weird," reasoned Bella. She didn't add that Hermione was still considered a traitor by many purebloods.

"Do you know what you need?" proposed Elizabeth. "You need to watch Grease with us. I mean, not my dad, of course, just girls."

Bella and Hermione turned their heads at her. Edward almost rolled his eyes.

"And Ginny too, if she wants," added the dhampir girl.

"First, I'm not sure if Ginny needs to know about you just yet," argued Bella. "Second, I don't think that watching a film will help Hermione."

The witch snorted and seconded, "I saw a bit of it. Not interested."

"Then you haven't seen it yet. You need to watch it from the beginning to the end!"

"I think I'm little too old for that. So no, thank you."

"You know, maybe the three of us could have a little schoolmate gathering. You, me, and Ginny, I mean. Not my daughter, of course."

Elizabeth sighed but she kept her tongue behind her teeth.

"That doesn't sound like you," remarked Hermione.

"Well, it doesn't sound like you either. But maybe we should do something like that. And with whom else could you possibly have such a get together?"

That was true - Hermione had no other girlfriends from school. There was only one other muggle-born girl in their year's Gryffindor and she had not been heard of ever since her family had left after Voldemort had risen to power. Moreover, Hermione didn't think that she would condone her decisions in the world of non-magical politics.

Hermione called Ginny. She was surprised but they agreed to do it that very evening. Edward and Elizabeth returned back to Forks. Ginny arrived with some butterbeer and Hermione retrieved some hippogriff blood from a stasis container. Just when they were about to begin, a FedEx package arrived. It was a DVD.


	17. Calm Before Storm

Calm Before Storm

Bella decapitated a vampire she was fighting with. Another one came at her from a side. She turned at him just in time to see him hit by a plasma bolt from Jasper's rifle. He swivelled to shoot a vampire who was pummelling John Smith's shield at the moment but Bella didn't wait for anybody and rushed into a senator's residence.

The foyer was trashed. Two dead bodyguards laid on the floor. Judging by a fresh scent of blood from somewhere inside the house, there were probably more corpses further on. It seemed like the attackers had chosen the front entrance. Hardly surprising.

The senator walked in through a door on the opposite side. Only, it wasn't him. Two vampires were flanking him. The imposter stood still for a moment, pondering whether Bella had met the senator before and whether she could tell that his scent was off. The two vampires didn't loose any time because they themselves could detect the Polyjuice potion in his scent. They lunged at Bella who lurched to a side so one of the vampires would be between her and the other one.

The imposter was slow to catch on. From a vampire's point of view, it took him an eternity before he drew his wand. By that time, Jasper and Smith arrived.

When the fight was over, Smith sat down in a couch in a corner.

"The senator?" he asked tiredly.

Jasper had quite a good idea judging just by the smell but he went to check nonetheless. He was back in a second.

"Dead. They smashed his brain. So I don't think we can do anything for him."

"Well, that's going to be a problem. It might even complicate the president's re-election if we are unlucky."

Bella examined the dead wizard. She sniffed at his wand and picked up his original scent. It was unknown to her. She looked over her shoulder at Smith who didn't appear to be intending to stand up. She rolled the body closer to him and cleared her throat. Smith didn't get it at first but then he understood and cast a meat preservation charm on the corpse. A dead body didn't metabolize Polyjuice potion. They needed to hasten the process in a lab.

"His family wasn't here," remarked Jasper while checking the plasma cell in his rifle.

"Yes, how fortunate," commented Smith.

"I mean, if we explain the situation to them, they may help us to stage a more normal death."

"Or they might decide that they want the truth out there."

"Well, let's hope that they won't want to create chaos," uttered Bella.

Truth to be told, the incident made all non-magical humans who knew the truth nervous. The assassinated senator wasn't just an ordinary member of the congress - he actually knew about the magical world. He was supposed to be protected. If somebody like him could be assassinated, then no one was really safe. John Smith made a snippy remark at one occasion about all the other people out there - who was protecting them?

Jasper and Smith attended a briefing in Pentagon about a week later. By that time, they knew the identity of the wizard. Yet another fallen nobody from Voldemort's time.

"They are testing our defences," stated Jasper. "Or our ability to predict their attacks, to be precise."

By that time, it was an unspoken knowledge that they possessed some means of prescience. As for the Romanians, they didn't have to know about Alice. Their testing and prodding gave them sufficient idea what the limits were.

"And when they know about all your blind spots, they'll be able to catch us with our pants down. Am I right?" asked one of the generals.

"They'll be able to carry out attacks in those blind spots, yes," confirmed Jasper.

"Can't you conscript some of those magical seers?" proposed another general. "Like the one who predicted the whole business with Riddle and Potter?"

"Such people can give us only vague warnings," answered Smith. "Like the one from Potter's ghost. Our best bet is the detection network which should be finished soon. However, I'll put out a word. Maybe there's somebody out there who could be useful and is looking for a job right now."

Later during the meeting, Jasper raised a question about the politicians who knew the truth getting scared. He reasoned that they might do something stupid. He didn't specify what stupid meant.

"We'll keep an eye on them," responded somebody. "However, maybe assigning a half-vampire bodyguard would help to calm them down? After all, we've already screened some of the Secret Service members for that purpose."

"All the subjects turned so far are doing well so if you want more of them on your hands, we can turn and train some more. However, there's no point in turning many, the deployment of the satellite network isn't far." answered Jasper slowly. "In the meantime, anybody scared for his life can move to Forks."

"I don't think that would work."

"We could provide instantaneous transportation to Washington D.C. and back," offered Smith. "Moreover, the base in La Push is being expanded so it's not like it's a middle of nowhere."

"Very well, we'll extend the offer. Now, let's talk about the project you've just mentioned..."

* * *

The situation in Middle East and north Africa was curbed down in some places while it remained largely the same in others. It was no accident that strong dictators governed the former. The only anomaly was in Iraq where something like a terrorist insurgency was brewing. That was strange, considering that the Ba'ath party had the situation firmly in hand there. It was definitely the last place where somebody would expect trouble.

Cursory investigation revealed that somebody was providing the insurgents with weapons, possibly the Romanian coven (or somebody acting on their behalf). Local wizards agreed to take a closer look at the matter but strictly refused to get involved directly. Luckily, there was no need. When it was confirmed that vampires were indeed smuggling weapons, drone technology was used to disrupt the operation. The rest was in the hands of the Iraqi military and no one doubted that it wasn't going to be pretty.

The whole thing led to a large debate among civilian non-magical populations of Europe and North America. Was it moral to support these dictators (by inaction at the very least)? Truth to be told, the governments of United States and Britain had no idea how to tell people that while dictators were bad in principle, absence of these particular ones would be much worse.

An idea was raised to approach Saddam with an offer of lifting the oil sanctions in an exchange for a few gestures from him. The question was, was it worth the effort, considering that the they were going to be able to detect the Romanian ancient anywhere on the planet soon?

* * *

Bella and a few others arrived in Area 51. She spotted Eldridge and went to shake his hand.

"Hermione invited me to come along," he explained his presence. "And in case they need a test subject though I'm not sure if I'll be of any use in that regard."

She met with Hermione afterwards. The witch was with the SIS agent who had accompanied her to Australia. Bella sensed that there was something more going on but she didn't prod.

The U.S. president and the British prime minister were present, along with a lot of brass and other important people.

Hermione left and when she returned with John Smith later, they announced that the demonstration was ready. They reminded everybody that the satellites were going to fry any electronics around. Two seemingly ordinary satellites were wheeled in. One of the leading engineers used a megaphone to comment that they were first two of the intended four and that the other two and one extra were being constructed. He announced that the test was about to begin. The president and the prime minister joined Hermione and Smith by a monitoring device which was receiving data from the satellites.

They activated the nodes. A technician wheeled in an artificial source of a necromantic aura. There was nothing new about such a test. However, it was one thing to see working nodes on airships and an entirely different one to see them on orbital satellites.

Once they were done with this phase, Hermione used a spell to enhance her voice and announced, "Of course, it's one thing to detect an artificial signal and another one to detect a vampire. Fortunately, the satellites enable a great deal of tuning. For the purposes of this demonstration, we are going to switch the detectors into a highly sensitive mode. If my friend Eldridge would be willing to assist us, we would like to try it on him. We have never tried this before so we don't know ourselves what's going to happen."

The old lawyer went forth. He wasn't sure whether he liked an idea of a government being able to track him from space. Then again, such a thing was probably impossible for technical reasons. He entered the space between satellites. Nothing happened at first so Hermione fine-tuned the nodes. I while later, the nodes detected what little vampirism there was in him.

"Of course, we won't be able to do this from orbit," commented Hermione. "At least not with semi-ancient ones. Even if the nodes were sensitive enough, there would be too much static. However, we are already thinking beyond destruction of the Romanian ancient. Perhaps we might be able to detect his fledglings with these satellites one day. We have also tested it with dementors so it will be possible to set these satellites to track large groups of those in future."

Eldridge returned to Hermione and told her that he could feel the nodes. That wasn't unexpected. After all, the ancient one had been able to feel the ones on the airships. The question was whether he was going to be able to feel the satellites as well.

"When can these satellites be released?" asked the president.

"In about a year," answered the leading engineer.

"We plan to release them as soon as they are ready," supplemented Hermione. "If we finish them sooner than expected, we won't wait till a pre-planned date. When dealing with enemies such as ours, it's better to be unpredictable."

"Of course, it's also a question of the readiness of the polar bases," commented Smith. "Another question is whether we should start releasing the nodes only after all satellites are finished."

"That might be advisable in case we reveal a fatal flaw and need to correct it," added the engineer.

"The delivery will be through normal means?" asked the president. He imagined something along the lines of launching just one rocket which would carry some kind of a teleportation anchor which would be used to teleport the actual payloads. Then he realized that all the satellites would end up in one place.

"Yes," answered Smith. "There's some research going on regarding heavy payloads but these satellites are quite lightweight. The traditional approach will be sufficient. Also, our Russian friends agreed to help us with this. The question is whether it's worth the risk of transporting a satellite or two to Baikonur."

To be honest, he had an idea of using any launches from there as a diversion. Alas, that was an issue for more planning and he most certainly wasn't going to speak about it in front of a non-magical person.

Some of them talked about the polar nodes afterwards. The final design was same as in their first test flight. There ware going to be two unmanned balloons. The one carrying a node was going to be at the desired altitude. A bigger one was going to be above stratosphere serving as power-source for the first. Much of that was made possible thanks to new and better understanding of mesosphere.

They still intended to have a secondary node on each pole as a backup. The advantage was that the secondary node didn't need to be released from the lower balloon until it was needed. It was still going to take some time to actually manufacture all of it but it was something that could be worked on in parallel with the equatorial satellites.

* * *

Carlisle visited Tanya's and the others in Denali. They talked about recent events and the orbital detection grid project. Afterwards, Carlisle admitted that he came to ask a favour. He explained about the polar bases in greater detail.

"You want us to help guard the northern base," observed Tanya.

"It would be only a temporary thing," assured her Carlisle. "And you are closest."

"Isn't our credibility based on the fact that we don't work you?" argued Irina. "Guarding some human installation is going to undermine that."

"This is not just some human installation," disagreed Carlisle. "It's a result of cooperation between non-magical humans, wizards, vampires, and even goblins. It's purpose is to track down somebody who threatens both humans and vampires. I'm sure that the vampire community will understand."

It was true - Emmett and Rose had gone to help with construction of the Antarctic base. Carlisle himself and Esme were going to depart to north pole soon. As for goblins, they used their metallurgical secrets to provide certain metal parts.

"Are we going to be of any use there?" asked Eleazar. "What if they simply drop a nuclear bomb on us? What if they smuggle it under the ice?"

"Alice would see something of such a magnitude. It's the little attacks that worry us. Alice can't keep an eye on everything at once and the enemy knows this, even though they don't know that we've got somebody like Alice."

"Is your family going to guard the Antarctic base?" asked Kate.

"I was told by John Smith not to worry about that. It seems like there's a special plan there. My family is going to be on standby, prepared to go where we are needed. Once the satellites track the Romanian ancient down, Jasper, Bella, and others will join a strike force which will attack him."

Tanya and her family agreed to help. From their associates, only Garret was going to accompany them. Others were to stay in North America.

* * *

Jacob and Elizabeth were cleaning their guns.

"So, a package with spare parts arrived," revealed Jacob. "After half a year."

"Why bother?" asked Elizabeth. She was referring to the fact that any wizard could revitalize a weak spring or fix a broken extractor. Moreover, the military base had more than enough spare parts in their storage and could theoretically give away a few of those. Not to anybody, of course.

"Well, I thought it convenient to have my own stash of original spare parts. However, I was quite disappointed when I went through the contents. Those people have some serious issues in the customer support department. That is, if they do have a customer support department to begin with."

"Missing items?"

"Oh, they explained those. They ship certain parts only in packages of twenty. Why don't they advertise this fact somewhere? I would have simply ordered a whole package. However, that doesn't explain why did they send only one piece of certain items when I ordered five!"

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun unpacking those packages."

"And that's not all. While we can make our own magazine springs here, I thought to order some originals when I was at it. Guess what. They sent me three pieces of a spring I didn't need and none of those I ordered."

Elizabeth laughed.

"I gave those three springs away. Luckily, I'm self-sufficient in this regard."

Jacob passed Elizabeth a can of Ballistol.

"So, I've heard that Seth and Jennifer are now together officially," commented Elizabeth after a while.

"I've heard that too. I guess that things will move quicker now though it's probably going to be some time before they set a wedding date."

Elizabeth pondered whether she should use it as an opening to ask him how did he saw their own future in that regard. However, Jacob didn't elaborate on the topic and Elizabeth concluded that it was perhaps too early.

They finished cleaning. Jacob locked the slide of a pistol he was holding in rear position and took a deep sniff at the opening. It wasn't like he profoundly enjoyed the smell of oil and powder residue but there was something satisfying about doing it.

"Oi!" squealed Elizabeth.

"What?" asked Jacob.

"It's... weird when you do that!"

"Weird?"

"Sure, take a look."

Elizabeth grabbed a freshly cleaned SMG and opened its bolt. She repeated Jacob's action.

"Oh, jeez! You were right!" exclaimed Jacob and covered his eyes with his hand.

* * *

Rose and Emmett were watching the stars. They could see aurora in distance but it was unobservable for humans.

All their work was done for the day, they had ran out of materials. They weren't going to receive more materials for another day or two so everybody had a time off. Humans used it to huddle in their shelters and drink tea. Not so the two vampires.

"It's way too quiet for my taste," commented Emmett.

Rose murmured in agreement.

"One would say that they would try our defences at least," continued Emmett. "They must know that we are here and what are we doing."

"Maybe they play a more complicated game. Maybe they don't wish to attack when they know that they have no chance."

"That didn't stop them before."

They didn't continue their discussion. It was clear to them that reasoning of an undead creature was a foggy area for the living.

"Let's build an ice castle," proposed Rose after a while.

"What?" asked Emmett, completely befuddled.

"A castle. Made of ice. Look around, there's plenty of material everywhere. And it's likely that we won't get a better opportunity."

"That's right. Let's get to it."

The human crew was for quite a sight next "morning".

* * *

Bella and Hermione were led to a laboratory in a secret Israeli research institute. At a certain point, their lab-coat clad guide stopped and turned to them. It looked like he wanted to explain a bit before showing them whatever he wanted to show.

"Well, what is this about?" asked Hermione.

"As you surely know, we still haven't turned any soldiers into vampires since your first visit in 2004," started the scientist. He was talking about the bombing of a vampire coven in Gaza. Bella and Jacob had acted as observers in that operation.

"Do you intend to show us what have you done with the venom instead?" prodded Bella.

"Indeed. It's probably nothing that you haven't thought of yourself."

He opened a door behind him with a key-card and held the door. They were led to a middle of the laboratory where there was a cooled container and a tall box. Strange smell was coming from the tall box.

The scientist opened the cooled container. There was something which looked remotely like pieces of dark meat sealed in plastic covers. A cable interface was installed in each of them.

"An artificial organic muscle weave," he explained. "Controlled by electric signals."

That wasn't something new. Other countries, including Britain and USA, conducted research in this area. Carlisle was involved in one of those project himself.

An aide took one of those pieces out and connected it to a laptop. The piece of meat curled when he ran a command.

"We can inject these with regular venom," elaborated the guide. "You can try it with your own, if you'd like to observe the process later. It takes almost a day before it's completely finished though there's some limited mobility after several hours."

He stepped to the tall box, tapped at it, and continued, "We've prepared the final result here for the purposes of this demonstration."

He opened the box. There was a metal dummy with movable joints. It was covered by those same pieces of meat, just changed by the venom. The cables from all the pieces of the strange armour joined in a box which the figurine had instead of a head. Their guide flicked a switch on the box.

"We use a wireless connection for testing," he explained while they waited. "There will be no such thing in real deployment, of course - only the soldier will be able to control his armour."

"So you intend to put a living subject inside?" asked Hermione.

"Yes. There would be little point in making a robot like this. We haven't tested it yet though. We lack a control interface between a soldier and his armour."

"Why don't you just line the insides of the suit with pressure receptors and utilize negative feedback?" proposed Bella. "You know, like in Heinlein's Starship Troopers? DARPA is using a similar principle in those cargo exoskeletons they are developing."

"We don't want a walking tank and once again, what would be the point of using the material we are using? No, the only way how make this work is enable the soldier to control the suit with his mind. It would be best if the suit merely monitored neural commands to soldier's real muscles but an interface directly with the brain would do the job as well."

"I see, you want our drone technology," surmised Hermione.

The scientist cocked his head and replied, "I'm sure we could help each other. It's surprising that you haven't develop something like this yourself."

He didn't know about the diluted vampires.

Bella and Hermione shared a look. A project like that was going to take another decade before being operable while the satellites were going to be released relatively soon. However, it couldn't hurt to be prepared for what was going to come afterwards. Destruction of the Romanian ancient was surely going to create a vacuum and chaos.

"I'll talk to my superiors," agreed Hermione.

* * *

John Smith brought a lethifold to a perimeter of the La Push ward. Andromeda and Bella were with him.

"Make sure it isn't damaged," he warned them. "I need to return it."

* * *

Bella flew above the area where Hogwarts once stood. Her hundred eyes scanned the terrain under her.

"How does it feel?" asked Hermione.

"Like flying a swarm of bees," answered Bella.

Alas, it was just a swarm of small tricopters.

"Any delay in commands?"

"Negligible."

When she returned and landed the drones, the discussed further steps. The question was, whether they were going to be able to convince anybody that a project of swarms controlled by a single mind had any perspective. After all, Bella was the only known person capable of operating such a thing. However, there was a chance that Elizabeth and possibly other dhampirs were going to be able to it as well. So it seemed that the project was going to be iced until Elizabeth was ready to be exposed to more people.

* * *

Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, a Rose returned from the polar bases. There was no more work for them but human crews were still finishing up. Hermione intended to go to south pole herself afterwards and oversee testing of their balloon solution. The Denalis were also going to depart for the northern base soon.

* * *

John Smith started his covert operation of transporting two of the satellites to Baikonur. It was just a diversion. If he really wanted to get something there, he would go through a trouble of getting a Portkey capable of taking something so heavy so far. Alas, he was sending a cargo ship. An unmanned ship.

* * *

Rufus Feller left his entourage behind and entered the headquarters of his Death Eater counterpart accompanied only by Stefan. They were met by Vladimir who led them to an inner sanctum where Feller had to part even from those two. The wards around the inner sanctum repelled anything but ancient vampires anyway.

The Death Eater raised his head from his work. Feller stole a quick look at it. It seemed that he was reviewing some research into magical foci for ancient vampires. So the former wizard wasn't giving up on the idea of reclaiming his magic one day. As far as Feller knew, the Death Eater had retained only limited telepathic abilities and he wasn't a very good Legilimens even as a human.

"You shouldn't have come here," the Death Eater chastised Feller. "It isn't safe for us to be at one place, especially this late in the game."

His tone was dry. He would had never talked with a muggle during his life. However, he was no longer a wizard and Feller was no longer a muggle.

"Haven't your human friends made this area unplottable?" retorted Feller.

"Unplottability is becoming increasingly obsolete."

Feller looked around. There was nowhere to sit. Not that he needed to but it was a good rhetorical gesture.

"You are right, of course," he admitted. "It's risky for me to be here. Alas, we have to talk and I'm sure that Vladimir and Stefan took all precautions when they arranged this."

The Death Eater put the materials he was studying away and nodded at Feller to continue. He suspected already what was it about.

"What do you think about long-term plans of our sire?" he asked.

"What am I supposed to think?"

"Don't you consider them a little... bad for business?"

The undead Death Eater didn't have to tell Feller that he cared naught for commerce.

"A figure of speech," clarified Feller. "Let me be a little more specific. Our master doesn't wish to enslave humanity, he wishes to destroy it."

"What do we care for humanity?" growled his colleague. "What do we care for the living?" he added, almost inaudibly.

"Imagine he's going to achieve full victory. Humans along with wizards are going to be crushed. And all the those opposing wild vampires and evolved werewolves and such. And, of course, goblins and all the other humanoid and semi-humanoid races. And let's not forget about all the other sentient species, such as dragons. Do you think they'll sit idly and let us collect the blood of their dead?"

"It's our job to take care of such details."

The Death Eater didn't go into detail on that topic. But that wasn't the point. What Feller was painting up for him was a parallel with his former master Voldemort. Neither their creator nor Tom Riddle had any kind of a vision. They were parasites, creating parasitic societies. No, worse than that. A true parasite wishes to keep its host alive for as long as possible. Indefinitely, in best case scenario. The dark lord had not been capable of that and neither was the Romanian ancient.

"Also, what do you think is he going to do with you?" added Feller after a while.

That was another issue to consider. While Feller was as ambitious as he was in his life, he was relatively humble for an "ancient" vampire. Moreover, he had been created from a muggle and bent easily to the will of the Romanian ancient. His colleague was more resilient, due to his magical heritage. Maybe the Romanian ancient merely wished to use him during early stages of their campaign. Later, after he lured in sufficient number of his old acquaintances and turned them into semi-ancients, he would do away with him.

"It's a wonder we've been allowed to meet like this at all," uttered the Death Eater after another pause.

"As I've said, we have our overseers to thank for that."

Feller was talking about Vladimir and Stefan. It seemed that these two had implicit trust of their grand-sire. After all, they had been entrusted with the responsibility of awakening him once the time was right and they had done just that. Feller had certain suspicions that it was Marcus who assured Vladimir and Stefan about this but he opted not to think about it.

"Is our sire going to learn about this meeting?" asked the former wizard.

"Hopefully not."

There was another pause.

"Do you know where is he going to attack?" asked the Death Eater.

"Your guess is as good as mine. With our own targets out of consideration, I bet he will want to make a statement. Maybe London, maybe Cheyenne Mountain. The latter seems more probable than the former, when you look at it from a certain perspective. I would attack the Silicon Valley myself but that doesn't seem to be his style."

In the end, it wasn't too difficult for Feller to convince the other vampire. The Death Eater's arrogance made it especially easy. While they knew that their sire had been probably magical when he had been alive, the Death Eater still didn't like taking orders from anybody.

When Feller walked out of the inner sanctum, he saw Vladimir and Stefan shaking hands. That was a strange gesture, for semi-ancient vampires. There was a sense of finality in it. He guessed that they probably weren't going to see each other again after they make their move.


	18. Battle

Battle

"It's not going to be attacked," told Alice to John Smith.

"And later on?" asked Smith.

"I can't say for sure."

"The plan doesn't extend beyond the ship reaching the Russians," stated Smith. "We'll stop the ship before it reaches the shores and disable the explosives on board."

So the Romanians either didn't fall for the trick or didn't intend to carry their attack on the sea.

"Is it possible that the Russians accidentally leaked that it's a fake?" mused Jasper.

After all, they had to be told that there weren't going to be any satellites to release so they could schedule a release of one of their own satellites instead. They couldn't just prepare a launch for nothing.

"It doesn't matter. Maybe they simply intend to attack the polar bases. That's the only thing that can't be moved."

They reinforced their defences there but the attack wasn't coming on that front either.

Russians released a communication satellite instead of the detection one. Alice didn't keep her eye on it but John Smith and Bella were there in case something happened despite the fact that it had to be obvious to anybody that it wasn't the real deal. Nothing happened.

As time passed and the time for releasing the satellites grew nigh, it became apparent that the enemy planned to move at the very last moment. There was no doubt that they could predict when that last moment was because it was virtually impossible for NASA to keep the preparations for four orbital launches secret.

* * *

The day arrived finally. All the Cullens with the exception of Carlisle and Esme were with John Smith in Kennedy Space Center. Carlisle and Esme were in the sea by the coast of La Push. They didn't have any special reason to be there but it was their pre-planned strategy. Charlie wasn't in La Push, he was at the Forks police station. He believed that it was the place to be at such a time. Nahuel and Huilen joined Jennifer in La Push.

Houston was going to take over the long term mission control, as usual. After much consideration, Hermione decided to be there rather in London. It made more sense, in case there were issues she could help with.

The president was at Cape Canaveral. He wanted to personally observe first two launches. A representative of the British government was with him. The PM considered it more prudent to be in Britain, in case he was needed there.

Jasper approached Smith, who was watching a launch site on a big screen on a wall.

"It almost feels like we are launching Apollo 11," remarked Jasper.

"No, it's more like Apollo 8 when it comes to importance," disagreed Smith. "Or Apollo 4, but more of them at the same time."

Smith walked to a room where Alice and others were waiting. Jasper followed him.

"Can you see any nuclear explosions yet?" asked Smith in a low voice.

Normally, he wouldn't talk about it so directly but there was no one else around and it was quite late in the game. Alice shook her head. She didn't seem very sure of herself but Smith didn't prod. She was keeping her inner eye on a lot of things at once. Truth to be told, Smith didn't think that the Romanians were going to use nuclear weapons to attack the polar bases. They had to know that they would predict such a thing.

* * *

Andromeda Tonks entered a chamber which housed the control unit of the wards.

"Nothing to report," reported Elizabeth.

"Is the bird going to show up?" asked the witch.

"He was at the house but he flew away before dawn."

"Huh, I wonder what he's up to."

"Who knows. Maybe there will be a malfunction somewhere and he will be required to do some heavy lifting."

Andromeda left with a promise to relieve her in several hours.

* * *

At the north pole base, Eleazar and the others observed a release of a "balloon carrier". A second one was ready for deployment. Everything seemed quiet.

* * *

Bella and Jasper watched the preparations on a screen.

"It's too quiet," remarked Jasper. His statement was in stark contrast with all the buzzing activity around. "It feels like the time before James arrived," he continued.

"Or before we went to Hogwarts," added Bella.

Edward and Alice were silently discussing her visions. She couldn't see any nuclear attacks anywhere on the planet but she had the same feeling like before the explosion in Hogwarts or in the fake gold deposit. That was worrisome because it signified a possibility of the Romanians being able to hide such a thing from her.

Emmett was excited by everything that was happening. In all those years, he had never been present at a space launch.

Finally, the moment for first launch came. Everybody who knew the danger was tense, expecting something to happen. However, the process went as usual and before long, there was a lift off. Some people ran out of the building to see the rocket with their own eyes. Emmett was sorely tempted to follow them. Rosalie grasped his arm and reminded him that he needed to stay there.

Alice started to have first glimpses of a future attack. It was all hazy though.

"I think they are preparing an attack in Washington DC," she told Jasper. "It's going to be big."

"Do you see where exactly?"

She shook her head.

"That could mean that the one making the decisions is hidden from you and hasn't told the others yet."

Jasper informed Smith. They needed to prepare their forces and evacuate the area.

"I can't say I'm surprised," remarked Smith. "It seems that they wish to make a statement. At least the president isn't there."

"The vice-president is in the White House. Perhaps they should move him to the bunker."

It took just a few minutes for the final stage to get in the position. The satellite was successfully deployed. It was activated and linked with the polar nodes. They had first two lines. This alone had a limited ability to detect the Romanian ancient - once per orbit.

Alice's vision solidified about half an hour later.

"It's Pentagon," she revealed. "A large scale attack. I can't see many details, just a swarm of newborns."

"Will you need us there?" asked Jasper Smith.

"Not unless it's necessary. Our forces are in the area already."

He was talking about wizards, half-vampires, and appropriately equipped special forces. Moreover, they had drone support.

"It's probably just a diversion anyway," suggested Bella.

Truth to be told, Smith was more worried about covering such a thing. The most damage the enemy could do was to create chaos by revealing the truth. Or so he thought.

While they were waiting for news from the battle, they received a call. A launch of a ballistic missile was detected. Its trajectory started from an unknown platform in western equatorial area of Atlantic. It went almost straight up, only slightly towards east. It meant that it was going to make a suborbital trajectory and fall back in the ocean. That was good - it meant it wasn't a nuclear attack. It was going to achieve a great altitude though.

"What is it carrying?" asked Smith.

After a while, they were told that it probably didn't carry any payload. Jasper asked for all available data and images.

It was a two stage missile. After its first stage separated and the last burned out its fuel, Edward computed that it was going to get in vicinity of the first satellite. Smith called Hermione but the people in Houston told her the same thing already. Alice's premonition became clear.

"It's an anchor," she said. "They are going to transport nuclear bombs up there."

"How the hell have they built that rocket and a platform to launch them?" asked somebody.

"Maybe they stole or bought an old submarine and refitted it," theorized Jasper.

There was a US carrier in the area. Orders were given for them to engage the enemy. However, it was going to take some time before helicopters carrying torpedoes were going to get there. At least they didn't have to worry about EMP at such a height (or rather distance). Nobody stopped to think about the fact that those were going to be the highest nuclear explosions ever.

"We've got an echo!" shouted some wizard under Smith's command.

It was confirmed. The Romanian ancient vampire lord was probably at the site of the launch. That was when several nuclear bombs strewn across the trajectory of the anchor went off. The satellite was destroyed.

It was inquired whether second launch could be moved forward. Obviously, there was no need to wait till the pre-planned time. However, they were still left with another choice. They could release third and fourth in original intervals and launch an extra satellite later. Another option was to recompute the launch times and settle for three equatorial nodes. Considering the fact that confrontation with the ancient one was nigh anyway, it didn't matter much. Hermione argued that more nodes would increase the ability of the network to detect fledglings of the ancient one and dementors. It was decided to continue as planned and start preparing another rocket.

"Should we go there?" asked Jasper Smith. His tone suggested that he didn't consider it a good idea.

"No, it's probable that he wanted us to get his location right before he took the satellite down," (dis)agreed Smith.

With the first satellite down, they had to wait till the second got there to confirm whether the ancient one was still there. They were quite sure that it wasn't the case. That is, unless it was a double trick and he expected them to assume that.

They received a word from the capital. The battle was under way. At the same time, Smith received yet another call. From some goblins in New York. There was a covert attack on high-profile targets. Human ones only so far but they didn't wish to take the presence of the enemy lightly.

"Have you seen any of that?" asked Smith. He didn't direct the question at Alice but it was clear that he was talking to her.

She shook her head.

"Maybe another diversion?" proposed Jasper.

"Maybe it is," admitted Smith quietly. "I can't ignore this though."

There was no need to explain. Those goblins were their allies and were helping to keep the economic stable. Ignoring the request would send a bad signal and not only to American goblins.

"I'll come with you," resolved Edward, looking around at the other vampires. "We'll find out what's happening there quickly and we'll get back."

Smith nodded. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to break the team but Edward's help would speed things up. They apparated away.

Jasper checked in with Peter and Charlotte, who were in Canada at the moment. They reported that everything was quiet over there. Suddenly, Alice started to see another nuclear explosion.

* * *

Marcus nodded at Heidi in his emotionless way. They both drank a vial of hippogriff blood. She walked through a corridor of the submarine to a storage of nuclear bombs. Marcus knew that she was going to do as they agreed. Her loyalties, disloyalties, and relations were barren to his senses. She appreciated that the Romanians had destroyed Aro but she wanted to move on.

When all guards were lured away, Marcus forced the door to the storage open. An alarm was raised but it didn't matter. He took a key given to him by Stefan and found the corresponding suitcase.

There were no electronic elements on the nuke inside - they needed to Portkey them. Just set a mechanical timer and turn a key. Guards arrived a moment too late.

"Finally," whispered Marcus before everything turned white.

* * *

"All the aircraft managed to avoid the EMP," reported Jasper. "Your warning came in time, Alice."

"It doesn't make sense," mused Emmett. "Why would they blow up themselves?"

Alice didn't pay attention to the others. She was starting to see yet another vision.

* * *

Edward burst into a conference hall. Smith apparated in.

"It took you long enough," called Stefan at them. He was leaning on a wall, arms folded.

Smith aimed his wand at him.

"I'm not here to fight," declared Stefan.

"What's going on here?" demanded Edward.

"Just some minor house cleaning. Rufus's old friends from his human life, no one you'll miss. He sends his regards but he couldn't stay and let you take him in. Alas, no time to talk about that now. Your main concern is the main attack, right? I'm sure your people will predict it soon enough, if they haven't already. The forces there won't be as numerous as the ones originally allocated for the capital but my grand-sire will be there in person."

"Originally allocated?" asked Smith.

"Oh yes. Second wave was supposed to hit afterwards. More experienced units, not the newborn cannon-fodder you are fighting over there now. However, these forces won't be deployed and the commander will order retreat soon, just like we have done here. It's not a feint, their commander will really pull out to leave your hands free. Sure, most of the vanguard will be lost but that's acceptable."

"Do you expect us to divert our forces from there?"

"What you do is your decision. Vladimir is there, making sure there are no surprises. The trick is in timing the retreat so that it will too late for my grand-sire to cancel his own assault. Also, there won't be any attacks in Europe or anywhere else. All forces under our direct command are here."

"Why should we believe anything you tell us?"

"Because if we had know what was certain Carlisle Cullen up to, we would have sought an alliance with his coven. We wouldn't have bothered with awakening our grand-sire. Alas, we can talk about that later."

* * *

"Forks," said Alice. "I see an attack on Forks."

"And La Push?" asked Bella.

"I don't know. I can't see through the ward."

"If they are in Washington, they will attack La Push," assumed Jasper.

"Why would they expose themselves by going through Forks?" doubted Emmett.

"Because they don't know that I can't see La Push," suggested Alice.

Bella told the others that Edward was going to Washington DC to gather any half-vampires available. Jasper pulled out a cord and everybody held onto it. They were whisked back to Washington.

* * *

"What's going on, chief?" hollered one of the policemen. There was a lot of soldiers around.

"We need to evacuate the city," answered Charlie shortly.

A moment later, a large sergeant went to the front of the room and spoke loudly, "Excuse me, I need a moment of your attention. There has been a toxic leak from a chemical factory. A cloud of that stuff is moving straight at you. We need to get everybody out. Those who fail to evacuate should hide in their basements and insulate the door."

"OK, folks," continued Charlie. "I need you to commandeer every bus in the town. From school buses to private services. The dispatch is working out sections of the city for each of you to cover. Our friends here are going to help us out but I think that people will be more calm if they see their own cops rather then soldiers. Tell people that they don't need to take anything, they will be back home soon enough. Most importantly, make sure that people take a ride with you rather than using their own cars. We don't want to jam the streets."

"Where should we take them?" asked somebody.

"To our base, of course," answered the sergeant.

"If the cloud is coming here, how's the reservation going to be any safer?"

"Because some weather eggheads told us so," boomed the sergeant.

"Let's get going," commanded Charlie and clapped his hands. "Time is of the essence. Every minute means lives lost."

* * *

At the same time, Jacob, Sam, and others were quickly finishing their defence strategy. There wasn't much to talk about, they had contemplated this scenario many times before. No wolves other than Jacob were present, they didn't need to hear it.

"Jasper's team will be at the base, where we expect the strongest attack," reported Jacob. "The doctor and Esme will be in the water. Me and the other wolves will guard the rest of the perimeter. Nahuel and his aunt are out there with them already. I'm leaving the youngest wolves here though, they will help guard the beach in case something gets past the vampires. Hopefully, some reinforcements will arrive soon."

Truth to be told, Carlisle and Esme were going to be stretched thin till then. They considered leaving Nahuel and Huilen behind as well but they were going to need their support in case wizards supported the attacking vampires.

"Everybody else stays here," continued Sam. "That includes you as well, Jennifer."

The dhampiresa swallowed a response. She was nowhere near as experienced as others and they needed her to help protect the area of La Push, in case enemies got through the defences. Sam didn't mention Elizabeth because she was with Andromeda, operating the wards.

"Some soldiers from the base will arrive here later to help out but most will stay there," added Sam. "Also, no one has seen Fawkes since this morning. Is that right?"

No one answered. They hoped that his absence wasn't a bad omen.

* * *

Carlisle and Esme surfaced near La Push coastline. They were equipped with special flash-lights and sonar devices. Thanks to those, they were quite sure that there were no other vampires in the water. Alas, it seemed that something else was coming. They swam to the James Island so they could get a look from a high ground.

"What's that strange fog?" asked Esme. She had seen a dark fog like that once.

Mundane eyes wouldn't see anything extraordinary about the fog, besides its sinisterness. However, Carlisle recognized it for what it was. He took his communicator.

"Mrs. Tonks, we've got Dementors incoming," he reported.

"From the sea?" she asked, rather needlessly.

"Yes. From the sea."

Elizabeth, who was with Andromeda, found it odd.

"Why would they do that?" she wondered. "That's the best attack route for vampires. Now they can't go that way unless they pulled wizards with patronuses along."

"Maybe they think that Dementors are more difficult to bombard when they float over water?" theorized Sam who was with them. He imagined the sea around La Push covered by burning gasoline and cringed.

"And maybe they aren't as well organized as we are," countered Andromeda. "Commanding an army is easier on ground."

"Still, we shouldn't discard the idea that some vampires might come from the sea. Dementors can't get through the ward. Vampires can."

"We'll keep our eyes peeled," acknowledged Carlisle.

He asked Esme to keep patrolling the beaches and ran to check the bay.

* * *

"We want to take our own car," repeated Mrs. Newton. "I don't want to leave it here to soak up those toxic gasses."

Her son Mike was standing behind her, carrying two bags with essentials. He was still wearing his store clerk apron. He had barely finished a school and he was still struggling to find a job. In the meantime, he was working full-time for his parents. Mr. Newton was out of town at the moment.

"Your car will be fine," reasoned a policeman with her. "You can't take it, roads are off limits for personal transportation for now."

"I don't think that one car is going to cause a jam," she insisted, completely ignoring a scenario where everybody would have the same thought.

"What's the hold-up here!" boomed a corporal who noticed the situation. He somehow intoned the sentence so it didn't sound like a question.

"Our car..." started Mrs. Newton while Mike rolled his eyes.

The corporal drew his sidearm and made a hole in a front wheel of the said car. Mrs. Newton yelped as she was startled by the loud crack.

"The bus needs to leave now!" commanded the corporal.

The policeman and Mike took Mrs. Newton each from one side and led her to the bus.

"Come on!" shouted at them a soldier sitting behind the wheel.

He closed the doors as soon as the trio was inside. The engine was running already so they departed immediately.

The corporal returned to a Jeep where two more privates were waiting for him. One of them was scanning the area with a special camera for detection of quickly moving objects. Suddenly, he jerked, as the device detected something.

"I think your shot attracted attention," he reported.

The corporal jumped in and ordered the driver to go. Unfortunately, the driver was so nervous that the engine stalled. In the meantime, the soldier with the camera took a look at a blurry image on LCD. It was a haggard figure in clothes soiled by blood. It looked like the vampire had came across some hikers.

"Prepare yourself!" shouted the corporal and hoisted his assault rifle.

They saw a movement and opened fire, using incendiary ammo. The passengers of the bus could hear it probably but it hardly mattered.

The soldiers failed to hit the attacker and barely registered as he leapt at them from a roof of a nearby house. Suddenly, pavement around them rose and intercepted the vampire. Normally, a vampire standing on a ground would easily crash through a wall of levitating paver but this one was airborne at the moment and couldn't do anything but fall onto the obstacle which flung him aside. The vampire stood up immediately but found himself looking into bores of two Desert Eagles held by Bella. Two .50 calibre explosive rounds hit him in his face.

"Destroy the body and get out of here," ordered Bella as she ran pass them.

The soldiers reloaded and focussed their fire on the stumbling body with only a portion of its head still attached to its neck. Bella went to rejoin the others in their effort to stop the vanguard forces from pursuing the buses.

* * *

Edward and three half-vampires were brought by a house-elf to a coast north of the reservation. Edward was the only one who was actually holding onto him, the others were being held by the house-elf himself because he feared that they would inadvertently hurt him. The house-elf disappeared before Edward could ask him whether he wanted stay in La Push.

Edward sent the reinforcements to James Island to rendezvous with Carlisle and Esme. He was on his way east when his daughter raised him on his "radio" and told him to read her mind. She was well in range so he did so immediately and she showed him everything in less than a second.

They had detected an attempt to Portkey into the reservation shortly before his arrival. It had not been a slingshot one. That was a good sign - not only because those would get through but it also signified that no turn-cloak wizard had created any in La Push. Then again, the ward would detect such a thing too.

So there were only two options, depending on the properties of the Portkey. Either it had been disrupted completely (and no one was transported at all) or it attempted to carry any passengers as far as possible in which case those ended up at the perimeter of the wards. There were a few wolves stationed south of the Quillayute River but Edward could tell that they didn't see anybody yet and they were upwind. Hence, he needed to investigate.

He smelled the intruders as soon as he arrived to the place. Werewolves (the ordinary ones). That meant either wizards or "non-magical" ones (or both). He called it in and pursued.

He caught up with the group in a few seconds. It seemed like they weren't expecting to have to travel on foot. Two of them carried wands, everybody else was unarmed. Edward found it odd because it was day and full moon was far away. Then he noticed potion flasks on some of them. He reported his observation.

His next step was rather risky to take alone but they didn't have time. He took aim with his assault rifle. Two perfect head-shots later, the werewolves were without a magical support. At least he hoped so.

To his relief, no one pulled a hidden wand. They all took cover instead and started drinking contents of their flasks. Edward mowed them one by one. Some didn't even finish drinking, some didn't finish transformation. One did though. Edward grabbed him by his neck and attempted to gleam something interesting from his mind. It was no good, the beast's thoughts were completely jumbled.

He was debating whether to bring him in when he heard minds of vampires entering the area. The shots had drawn their attention. Edward warned the others and ran to rejoin Bella and the others at the base.

* * *

The Romanian ancient was approached by one of his semi-ancient lieutenants. Ironically, this semi-ancient had been turned by one of his new fledglings less than two years earlier.

"My lord," addressed him the semi-ancient. He talked quickly to prevent a nearby wizard to overhear him. "We've lost contact with our other forces. New York, Washington DC, and our naval headquarters."

The last was no surprise. They had learned a while ago that a nuclear explosion had been reported in the area where the submarine had been. That meant either a radical step from the enemy or a last measure from their own to escape capture. The first two were more troubling. Either those attacks failed completely or he had been betrayed.

The semi-ancient asked for orders. He seemed worried. If his sire was a traitor, it could shed a bad light on him.

The ancient one considered his options in his undead mind. It was too late to pull back. The dementors were surely among the Quileute population by that time. That was one important weapon he had no way of controlling. Also, their newborns were engaging the shape-shifters at the very moment.

Any other time, he would retreat to preserve his elite forces (not to mention the few wizards still in his service). Loosing the newborns was no great setback for him. Antagonizing the dementors was certainly a problem but they were such an enigma even to himself that he wasn't even sure whether they would even register the fact that he didn't join them in the attack. None of it mattered though. With the submarine gone, he couldn't destroy any more of those satellites. The detection network was going to be mostly operational soon enough and if they had a backup satellite, fully operational equally soon after that.

He ordered his lieutenants to commence the main attack. The nearby wizard didn't know what was it all about but it made him worry.

The ancient one donned his armour. Asbestos suit first, then a full body-armour with ceramic plates. Special emphasis was on protection of legs and arms. Each ceramic plate was enchanted against magic. That way, no one was able to simply summon the plates or even use them to lift the vampire in the air.

* * *

All around the perimeter of La Push, the wolves were ripping vampires apart. Most of them were newborns, some of them were older and directed the former. There were no truly experienced ones, not to mention armed ones or even wizards.

However, Nahuel caught a scent of humans in the combat zone. The wolves didn't seem to catch it (with their noses being attuned to vampires so much) so he went to investigate. Truly enough, it was a group of human mercenaries, attempting to sneak into the reservation. They were armed by ordinary weaponry.

"What are you doing here?" he ambushed them, pointing his rifle at them.

They opened fire instead of a reply. Nahuel didn't know what kind of ammo they had so he hid behind a tree at first. Then he blurred into a flurry of quick movement and knocked them all out.

* * *

Smith arrived to the La Push military base at about the same time as Edward did. Surprisingly, Hermione was tagging along.

"I asked for reinforcements to be sent here," he informed Jasper. "But this battle will be over before they arrive."

He didn't have to elaborate. It was going to take time before the new intelligence was going to bubble through the hierarchy. Moreover, Smith's superiors had only Stefan's word to rely on. For the same reasons, Hermione didn't even bother to ask Ginny to come with some wizards from England.

"Here they come," bellowed an officer manning a monitor station.

Jasper checked his screen. It showed an output from a drone which utilized special rays which reflected from skins of vampires. While there were sporadic forces everywhere around the area, the officer's reaction was caused by what seemed to be a main force quickly advancing on the base.

"Edward?" he asked, seeing that they were in range.

"Some of them are armed. Both standard and armour-piercing incendiary ammo. A few Stingers, a few LAWs. There are a few wizards among them. They caught me snooping. They don't seem to be surprised."

Jasper thought briefly about withdrawing the half-vampires from the coast. However, he didn't wish to complicate the situation. They would have to move either through the reservation or right behind the backs of wolves which would be distracting. Moreover, an attack from the sea was unlikely (with the dementors hovering at the edge of the wards) but still possible.

"Well?" asked the human commander of the base. He directed the question to Jasper who obviously had more expertise when it came to fighting vampires.

Jasper looked at Smith and Hermione briefly and when they nodded at him, he said, "I need you two wizards to shield as many soldiers as you can. All other humans need to take cover. Don't expose yourself to their guns and focus on disabled vampires. The six of us will face the brunt of their attack."

For the first time, the six vampires were going to be in a situation comparable to that of human soldiers fighting other human soldiers. The enemy vampires were as fast as they themselves were. Their only advantage was their superior weaponry and the probable lack of experience with firearms on the opposing side which could make their fire less precise.

"Do they posses any more nukes?" asked Smith. He made it seem like the question was meant for Edward but he was obviously thinking about Alice's ability to see nuclear explosions even through magic.

"No," answered Jasper. It stood to reason. The Romanians expected them to be able to foresee that and they didn't wish to expose themselves.

* * *

At the same time in another part of the base, Charlie entered a hall full of Forks residents.

"What's going on?" asked him somebody.

"We've told you already, it isn't safe in the town," he replied.

There were more questions but Charlie raised his hands and told them, "It's getting a little cramped here. I've just talked to Billy Black. They have prepared more space for some of you. There is a little complication with the fact that it's inadvisable to be right at the beach..."

"You've told us that the coast was safe!" cried out somebody.

"The coast area but not directly at the beach. I didn't ask why, I'm just following instructions. The point is, I can take a bus full of passengers further into the reservation. We could walk but it's better not to be in the open right now."

He was hinting at the alleged toxic cloud but his true reasoning was that people kept inside are less likely to see something.

It was quite stuffy in their current accommodations indeed so there was no problem filling a bus. Charlie drove it deeper into the reservation.

As they drove, two jet fighters flew over them. They were relatively low so there was no chance of overhearing them. Charlie wondered what good would they do. He wasn't an expert on U.S. air force but he reasoned that helicopters would be more appropriate. Maybe these were the only aircraft capable of reaching them in time.

"What are they doing here?" demanded somebody who, just like most others, suspected that they were being lied to.

"I don't know," called Charlie back. "Maybe they want to ignite the cloud."

They reached their destination where Quil's father was waiting for them. He and Charlie helped the passengers disembark and move inside. Everybody moved quickly enough and so it happened that they didn't see arrival of another airborne reinforcement. The only exception was a little girl who was being carried by her father and looked back over his shoulder. Thankfully, she couldn't speak yet.

One of the half-vampires called the base though.

"You aren't going to believe what's coming your way," he started his report.

* * *

The two fighters dropped their payloads. They couldn't hope to actually hit any vampires but their incendiary bombs made their approach difficult. Thanks to Edward's warning, the pilots were prepared when a few IR missiles were fired at them. The shooters weren't very experienced, that much was clear despite their superhuman intelligence.

Jasper took aim at one of the vampires launching a missile. Due to his preoccupation, he didn't spot the plasma bolt in time. One of the lieutenants saw it and ordered the body to be delivered to their master. The ancient vampire had the body deprived of limbs and then he ordered the wizard who accompanied him to examine the plasma burns.

"Can you shield against it?" he asked when he was done.

"I believe so," answered the wizard.

"Can you add this to the enchantment of my armour?"

Even as the ancient one asked that, he realized that his armour was enchanted against magic already. There wasn't enough time for that. The answer was also visible on the wizard's face.

"Never mind," snapped the vampire. "Stay by my side until they run out of ammo for those weapons."

In the meantime, somebody fired a LAW on Hermione's group. Jasper saw it coming and shot it down by his plasma rifle before it could hit her shield.

From the rear, an unprotected sniper opened a fire on an enemy wizard. First bullet splattered against his shield and before the sniper could fire again, the wizard reinforced it. Vampires around saw his distress but it didn't occur to them to locate the shooter and fire back.

Edward, on the other hand, noticed the situation. His plasma rifle was out of fuel so he switched to an ordinary one. At the same time, he computed the location of the sniper and checked his plan. He saw that his spotter was lazing the wizard's location. He also saw that the sniper fire wasn't going to be enough to pin the wizard down. He opened fire, forcing the wizard to focus solely on maintaining the shield. A few moments later, guided mortar fire from the base rained on him.

From the rear lines of the enemy, the ancient one noticed the death of the wizard. He cursed in his mind - his vampires weren't cooperating with the wizards well. Somehow, they weren't realizing that every each one of those had a value of a hundred of them - especially in their situation when they couldn't simply recruit more spell-casters. Luckily, he himself wasn't mundane and had his own magic tricks.

As if in reaction to the death of the wizard, the ancient one heard a faint crack of teleportation. He looked around the battlefield and noted that another wizard was gone. At first, he thought that he merely moved to a better location. When he didn't reappear anywhere, it became clear that he deserted. In other words, the wizard next to him was the last spell-caster they had. So far, the wizard didn't seem to notice the fact.

About the same time, Smith's team of grenadiers ran out of rounds. His shield was still being peppered by fire from enemy vampires. Luckily, they weren't accustomed to firearms.

"Smoke!" barked Smith.

"Hit the ground!" he ordered when they were obscured.

He dropped the shield and composed himself for a few seconds.

"This doesn't do much, you aren't hitting anything and my shield is too big of a target," he told the men.

It was true. Their salvoes from grenade launchers slowed the enemies down in the beginning but the fighting was more spread out at the moment. Moreover, the main purpose of the mundane soldiers was to put pressure on enemy wizards. With almost all of those gone, there was little need to keep the soldiers in the field.

"Go back and don't return," continued Smith. "I'll go join Granger."

He opted not to to disillusion himself. While it could hide him from his enemies, it also concealed his identity from his comrades. He didn't wish to become a victim of friendly fire.

While he was darting from cover to cover, the last of the Cullens ran out of fuel for their plasma weapons. Due to their volatility, only some of them had brought a spare cell and even those were spent. Bella carried a bag of grenades and used her telekinesis to turn them into guided missiles. This didn't escape notice of the ancient one.

Smith reached Hermione finally.

"What are you doing here?" she yelled when he stepped inside her shield.

"I've learned a few spells for this occasion."

He conjured what looked like a small ball of light. In reality, it was hot plasma. It flew quickly towards the enemy vampires. Those were used to ignoring all sorts of magical bolts and lights so the vampire in the ball's path didn't even attempt to evade. It seemed it was going to miss anyway. However, the ball of plasma changed direction at the last moment and set the enemy on fire.

"That's all?" grunted Hermione and poured more energy into her shield.

"It works. I need to concentrate in case it turned against our own so keep me covered."

He conjured another ball.

It was then when the Cullens heard a familiar sound: Fawkes's cry. Soon enough, he was flying above them.

"He took his sweet time," uttered Bella.

They didn't have wait for the help he brought for long. A mighty roar sounded throughout the battlefield. A dragon arrived.

The wizard accompanying the Romanian ancient saw the majestic creature. If there was one thing he respected besides wizards of similar political opinions and of greater power, it was dragons. The ancient vampire turned around when he realized that the wizard was going to flee but he was too late. His claws reached only empty air.

A vampire carrying the last Stinger had enough wherewithal to try to use against the dragon. With its high body temperature and relatively low speed, it was easy to get a lock. Fawkes let out a short cry which sounded like a warning. The dragon folded its wings and released a big trail of flame just when the missile was launched.

"Huh?" murmured more than one soldier in confusion. They couldn't understand how the dragon knew to do that.

The dragon followed a path pointed to him by Fawkes and created a wall of fire between the Cullens and the attacking vampires. It seemed like a great luck that it didn't engulf the Cullens in the flames as well. After all, all vampires smell the same to dragons.

There was one vampire whose smell provoked the dragon more than any other - the ancient one. It didn't fly at him straight away though. Somehow, it knew that the vampires around him could prove to be an annoyance - especially those with armour-piercing ammo. The dragon banked away from the battlefield instead and landed some distance away. There it could use the terrain to take cover.

"Engage the beast!" ordered the Romanian ancient one of his semi-ancient lieutenants (and the vampires under his command). "Kill it and you can have as much of its blood as you can drink!"

That wasn't the best reward. After all, dragon blood is too potent for wild vampires. Moreover, those vampires had little chance of success, if the dragon was wise enough.

The undead vampire knew what he had to do. It was too late to join the attack on the reservation. His only option was to hunt down his fledglings and take over their forces, if they still existed. If not, there were hidden covens all over the world loyal to his cause. He had to act quickly, before the satellite network was operational. There was one last thing he had to do. He had a strong suspicion that those six yellow-eyed vampires were responsible for much of his trouble over the past years. He needed to destroy them. And he knew just the trick which was going to help him do it.

"Follow me!" he commanded his guards and ran to the front line. He put his hand on the magical flame-thrower they had taken from Caius.

Bella could feel his presence. It was the same thing she had felt when she had been changing. Alice noted a dark hole in her prescience.

"He's coming," she warned the others.

"What an ugly creep!" exclaimed Emmett when he saw him. "And I thought that Voldemort was hideous."

"Be on your guard, we don't know what kind of abilities he has," cautioned them Jasper.

There was little ammo left on both sides and it was quickly expanded during the approach of the attackers. Rose tried to hit the ancient one in his face but he merely raised his armoured hand. One of the ceramic plates cracked but that was it. The humans noticed the upcoming clash but there was little they could do (besides from dropping phosphor on all of them).

The moment the two groups reached each other and started fighting, the ancient one stopped and gathered his power for a moment. Only some of the Cullens noticed what he was doing but all of them had their hands full. There wasn't enough time for any soldier to shoot at the vampire either.

The power was released. All red-eyed vampires around were immediately incapacitated. They fell to the ground, screaming in pain, blood of their victims rushing from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths. The only ones left standing were the Cullens and the ancient one. It seemed he didn't expect his power not to work on vegetarians.

Half of the Cullens started decapitating the disabled vampires, half engaged the leader. He took his flame-thrower to keep them at bay and cover his escape. At the exact moment when he pressed the switch, Bella crushed the gadget with her telekinesis and it exploded. The undead one lost his hand but the armour protected him from most damage. While he was beating the flames down, a heavy armour-piercing incendiary sniper round hit him in his torso and left a big, gaping crater.

The vampire turned to flee. He had no chance of outrunning his pursuers but Fawkes couldn't deny himself one last stunt. He flamed into his path, carrying a car in his talons. He retained his momentum from the time before flaming so the car collided with the vampire with a significant force. Before he could get back on his feet, Emmett kicked him down again.

Jasper opened the hood of the car. The gas tank was leaking already but there was surely enough gasoline in there. He ripped it from the car and smashed it against the ancient one.

"Step back," he ordered his companions.

He flicked open his lighter and tossed it at the enemy. The undead vampire didn't even attempt to evade. It seemed that he didn't feel any pain. He stood there for a moment and then he tried to rush Jasper. It was a feeble attempt and Jasper easily evaded him. A group of soldiers arrived then and started shooting at the burning figure. Some others started setting all the other vampire torsos on fire.

"We did it!" exclaimed Emmett. Nobody reacted.

Smith and Hermione reached the place as well.

"You should go indoors before the dragon decides to incinerate you as well," advised Smith. "The wolves can take care of any remaining enemies."

Jasper nodded and they ran away. He used his communicator to contact Carlisle while Edward called his daughter.

Smith and Hermione asked the soldiers to preserve a few bits of the ancient one, for research. There were still two more of them out there after all.

A little while later, Andromeda Tonks apparated to the battlefield.

"The dementors still linger at the edge of our wards," she told Smith. "Given enough time, they will overpower them."

"Or worse, they can decide to scatter and attack all settlements on the coast," he complemented.

Fawkes was still sitting on the wreck of the car, listening to their conversation. A high officer from the base joined the group.

"I can't be of any help in this," spoke Hermione. "I'm too tired. In fact, I'm going to need a house-elf to get me back to Houston."

"I'm spent too," seconded Smith. "But that's not the issue - we'll find enough wizards and witches capable of conjuring a patronus. The question is, how are we going to torch them all once they are entrapped?"

As he trailed of, stroking his chin with his finger, he looked at Fawkes. The bird called at the dragon and the two of them flew towards the coast.

"I guess that means he's going to help," commented Andromeda. "But why?"

"She," corrected her Hermione, assuming that she was talking about the dragon. "The dragon's a female."

Andromeda didn't answer and merely gave her a sour look. Truth to be told, the dragon was a hybrid so it wasn't apparent to laymen on first glance.

"She must have come from the American colony," mused Smith. "That's how was Fawkes able to fetch her so quickly."

"Since when do phoenixes and dragons cooperate?" asked the officer.

"Well, there are some theories about that actually..."

"Can we deal with the issue at hand?" interrupted Andromeda.

At the base, Jasper and the others were sitting around a table, processing what had occurred.

"Have we really just destroyed the most ancient vampire on the planet?" asked Emmett again.

"Only because his two underlings wanted him destroyed," retorted Jasper.

"And we were lucky not to be destroyed ourselves," remarked Edward. "He got close enough to us to use his ability. Imagine what would happen if it worked on us."

"I completely agree, it was a close call," seconded Rose. "Moreover, I don't think it's going to make much difference. With him gone, we may be in a harder position tomorrow than we were yesterday."

She was talking about the power vacuum, the undead Death Eater on loose, and possibly an unknown number of autonomous covens founded during the reign of the Romanian ancient.

"Maybe not," whispered Bella.

"What do you mean?" asked Alice.

"When he used his power, I kind of got a taste of it."

"Do you think you can replicate it?" asked Jasper.

"Not on such a scale and power. I should be able to disable individual vampires though. Red eyed ones, I mean."

"That should motivate vampires around the world to avoid drinking from humans," laughed Emmett.

"If it ever gets out, you mean," emphasized Edward.

"Yes, of course."


	19. Aftermath

Aftermath

Smith and Carlisle entered a special cell where Stefan was being held.

"You must be Carlisle!" he greeted them. He was a showing a special kind of enthusiasm Carlisle had seen in certain semi-ancient vampires (such as Aro and Eldridge).

"Stefan," greeted him Carlisle back, his voice dry and measured.

"Marcus told us a few things about you towards the end," revealed Stefan after a while of silence. "The most extraordinary wild vampire he had ever met, he said. I believe it was his desire to help you that awoke him from his lethargy."

"Is he all right?" asked Carlisle.

"Well, he's definitely better now than before. It was him who blew the submarine up."

"I see. It seems strange that your master would grant him so much latitude."

"That's the problem with these undead. They can't understand those who are alive. Or half-alive, for that matter. My grand-sire thought that by killing Aro, he had Marcus's eternal loyalty. Also, I do believe that he perceived Marcus as a piece of furniture."

"Let's get to business, shall we?" proposed Smith.

Stefan nodded.

"So, if I understand it correctly, you and Vladimir resurrected your grand-sire in order to destroy the Volturi. Once that was done, you've decided to get rid of him."

"Well, Vladimir and me knew from the beginning that he was going to cause more problems than he was going to solve. However, the actual decision to take action was a result of an understanding between the two of us and Feller and Marcus. There were more helping us out but I'll keep their identities to myself."

"And that Death Eater? We presume that your master turned him as well as Feller."

"That's correct. He wasn't in the plan until the very end. I suspect that he's quite enraged at the moment by the fact that he inadvertently helped to save La Push and Bellatrix Black in the process."

"He didn't know what was the third target?"

Stefan confirmed by a slight shake.

"How could you possibly work with a Death Eater?" asked Carlisle sternly.

"And why not? His political beliefs do not concern us. We needed him and his comrades to reawaken our grand-sire. Alas, I do admit that he might become a great problem in future. Hopefully, he didn't get rid of Vladimir - he's our only way of keeping tabs on him."

"I don't think you fully appreciate how much trouble you have caused."

"And I don't think you fully appreciate how much of a problem could Aro be. What if the Italian Ministry of Magic had decided to make a deal with the devil? And don't tell me that they wouldn't have done that. Just sum up all the salaries of wizards tasked with keeping vampires in Italy in check right now. But like I've said, we would have allied ourselves with your family instead if we had know about you."

"What makes you think we would work with you?"

"You work with bloody Bellatrix Black. Daughter of the women who ham-stringed the Volturi and made their eventual downfall possible."

Carlisle didn't react. He didn't wish to expose that Bella wasn't anything like her mother.

"What is your relationship with Feller?" asked Smith, changing the topic. "Were you planning to get rid of him as well?"

He said the sentence in a way which suggested that whatever he had been planning was at the moment contingent on the result of the interrogation.

"Not at all. He isn't stupid and he would have seen through it. I recognize the fact that he's a true vampire, unlike me. He respects that I'm actually much older and have more experience. He isn't my sire but his sire is my grand-sire. So you could say that we are partners. I would like to return to work with him, if you allow it."

"Why would we do that?"

"Because you want me to carry your response to him."

"Response to what?"

"His offer of peace."

"You can't be serious. We wouldn't ally ourselves with somebody like him even if he was still human."

"Undeath changed him," stated Stefan. "He's more dangerous now, I admit that. But also more... I don't know... rational? It's difficult even for me to understand his kind and it's even harder to explain it to living. However, there is no need to ally yourself with us. The point is, he doesn't have to be your enemy unless you chose so. After all, you are going to have your hands full with Vladimir's current master. And other enemies."

"What enemies are you talking about?"

"Feller's former associates, for example. We killed a few of them in New York. Many more of them remain in the world. They have their fingers everywhere. Finances, arms industry, media, health care. Do you have any idea how much you've hurt them when you released that cheap cure for cancer? Well, relatively cheap. They were trying to find the people who invented it and when they found nothing, they found it quite suspicious. Your various other actions hurt them as well. Because of you, their ties to the White House were severed."

"While they are certainly corrupted, I don't believe they can be a threat."

"They couldn't be a threat to you before because the magical world was beyond the reach of any muggle. That has changed in recent years, hasn't it?"

"Even so, such jokers are no match for our goblin allies," sneered Smith.

"Do you really want to rely on goblins in all things?" asked Stefan.

The two men were silent. Not just because of his last statement but because they couldn't make their minds about the conundrum before them.

"You are angry at us for awakening the ancient one, I understand that," continued Stefan. "But try to imagine him as an inanimate tool for a moment. Now remember all those things which have improved since we unleashed it. Aro destroyed. Death Eaters and their allies almost wiped out. Nomad vampires in check. Even mundane terrorism was significantly quelled. And, of course, the unprecedented progress in science and technology."

"I hope you aren't expecting us to release you right away," stated Smith.

"We expected that I might get stuck here for several days. If it's longer than that, I'll have to let Feller know that I'm all right."

Smith gave Carlisle a look and proposed, "Well, I think we are done here for now. There's a lot of work to do. We'll talk later."

"Oh yes, you are still releasing all the satellites," commented Stefan as they were leaving. "Feller would be willing to offer his help in calibrating them for his kind. Too bad he can't be sure that you'll let him go afterwards."

"We'll talk later," repeated Smith.

"Do you need a Portkey back to Forks?" asked Smith once they were outside of the building.

"No need. Mrs. Tonks furnished me with one."

"Good. Because I need to go back to KSC. And then I need to join Miss Granger in Houston. And then the president wants to speak with me."

"Well, then I shan't keep you. You know where to find us."

They were both about to depart when Carlisle asked, "By the way, you know about the dragon, right?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"She hasn't left yet, even though all the Dementors are destroyed."

"Maybe she's just resting? But no, I haven't heard about that. Have they send somebody over from the dragon preserve?"

"Oh yes."

"Well, good luck with keeping her presence a secret."

Carlisle was taken away by the Portkey, Smith apparated to Florida.

* * *

Some more wizards from nearby authorities arrived to Forks to help hide the truth of what had happened. The Cullens were working on that already but some things were easier done by wands. They had to remove any kind of evidence that there had been any vampires in Forks. Luckily, not many of those had ventured into the city itself, seeing that it had been evacuated.

A wizard approached the street where the Newtons lived and where Bella and the soldiers had destroyed a vampire. Empty shells and other materials had been taken away already. All that was needed to be done was to fix the pavement and to remove a big black sooty smudge left by the burned vampire.

When that was done, the wizard noticed the perforated wheel of Mrs. Newton's car. That didn't seem right. The wizard didn't know anything about electronics but he had been told not to let his magic affect muggle technology (because it left traces). Hence, he walked closer and touched the damaged wheel with his wand.

He smiled as he walked away. It was attention to details which made difference between covering something up and truly erasing it.

* * *

The satellite network was up and running. It didn't pick up any signals. That was met with a certain disappointment but with a much larger relief at the same time. It meant that there weren't any other ancient vampires who had had the same idea as the Romanian one. Hermione and her colleagues began their work on reconfiguring the system for Dementors. Finding the undead Death Eater was still a priority but at the moment, they had to show practical results.

* * *

The wizard from the American dragon preserve was away at the moment so Andromeda and the others tried a little experiment. Originally, it was Elizabeth who wanted to do it but Nahuel insisted on trying it first himself.

He and Jacob lifted a sedated deer and carried it to a boat. Pulling the boat, they swam to James Island where the dragon resided. Their story about a toxic leak making the beach inaccessible was paying of.

"Let me check it out first," insisted Jacob.

The dragon was awake. He felt a strange presence in the area. It weighted on his mind but not in an oppressive way. He returned to the boat and gestured to Nahuel to carry on.

The dhampir hefted the deer on his shoulders and carried it to the dragon. She didn't react in any way. It seemed that it was safe for Elizabeth and Jennifer to be around.

* * *

Stefan was released. It wasn't a popular decision. After all, he bore a portion of responsibility for many deaths, beginning with the entire crew of USS Ohio. Moreover, the idea of a quiet alliance or even a neutrality pact with an undead version of somebody like Feller seemed abhorrent. Alas, they had greater dangers to worry about. The undead Death Eater was a loose cannon and in certain senses more dangerous than his sire.

Another thing to think about was the possibility that both Feller and his counterpart were creating a whole army or Aros and Caiuses. After millennia of trying to eradicate older generations of vampires, they were set back to the state before the destruction of the original Romanian coven. Alas, they were prepared better than ever before.

* * *

Jacob and Elizabeth swam to James Island, pulling a raft with them. There was a fresh pile of dragon dung waiting for them. While it wasn't worth a fortune (not even a small one), it was still an important substance in the magical world and couldn't be allowed to go to waste. Andromeda was observing them from the beach using a binocular.

They carried the raft to the pile and grabbed shovels. The excrements had a strong scent but strangely enough, they didn't perceive it as a stench. It reminded them of the smell of black powder remotely. That was no surprise as some historians theorized that the ancient Chinese originally got the idea of black powder from research of excrements of Chinese Fireballs.

"Why do we have to collect it fresh?" commented Jacob. "We could let it dry up a little, at least when the weather is good."

"This isn't like mammalian faeces," replied Elizabeth. "This is the best moment to move it. Besides, dragons don't normally do this so close to their lair. She could start commuting to the beach for this which would make her more difficult to hide."

"Or she could dump it in the water."

"That would make it impossible for us to collect. Plus, it would disrupt ecological balance around."

Elizabeth looked to the beach where Andromeda was still observing them. The witch, knowing that Elizabeth could see her perfectly, gestured to them to proceed. They started shovelling.

* * *

As one might expect, there was a wedding. After all, every proper story needs one towards the end - Like Samwise Gamgee and Rosie Cotton near the end of Lord of the Rings.

It wasn't a wedding of Jacob and Elizabeth, it was still too soon for that. The happy couple was Seth and Jennifer. They were both relatively young but because a short period of peace seemed to be ahead of them, they decided not to wait.

Jacob and Elizabeth were the best man and bridesmaid. It didn't surprise anybody and even Edward managed to swallow any comments.

Jennifer visited her father before the wedding. She told him that he couldn't come because there was a dragon. Joham suspected that the Quileutes simply didn't want him there but he didn't protest.

Serena decided not to attend either out of loyalty to her father. That wasn't such bad news because it meant one less pair of eyes spying on their secrets. Maysun accepted the invitation though.

* * *

Jacob gutted a fish they had pulled from the sea and passed it to Elizabeth. She started to prepare sushi. They were about to have a little picnic. On James Island.

The dragon seemed to be asleep but Jacob was quite sure that she wasn't. She almost never slept. She liked to pretend to though. As if she was reading his mind, the dragon opened an eye for a moment, startling Jacob a little. He had to admit, the great creature was unnerving even him. He looked over to Fawkes whether the bird didn't have something witty to say. Fawkes seemed utterly disinterested in anything going around him at the moment but Jacob wasn't buying it.

"What do they want?" he mused as he sat next to Elizabeth.

They knew what Fawkes wanted. The question was, was the dragon after the same thing? That was one of the reasons why they were spending so much time on the island - wizards wanted to know more about interactions between phoenixes and dragons. So far, there were no observable interactions to report. Truth to be told, they felt like the ones who were being observed instead.

Jacob and Elizabeth ate the sushi with some seaweed and rice. They relaxed in silence afterwards (that is, as much as one can relax in a presence of a dragon). It wasn't very warm but that hardly mattered to the two of them.

They talked about a house they planned to start building. There wasn't going to be any electricity, that much was for sure.

* * *

"Where are you going?" asked a young cowboy who stopped next to Heidi who was walking along a highway. Then his brain registered how she looked and he smelled her pheromones. She didn't even have to use her gift.

"Las Vegas," she answered. "Can you give me a lift?"

"It's a bit out of my way," stammered the guy. "It's not a problem to make a detour though."

She took a seat. They introduced themselves and shook hands. Heidi's hands weren't cold thanks to an electric hand-warmer hidden in her pocket. She was more worried about her sunscreen getting wiped off.

"Excuse me, I can't place your accent," said the man. "Where are you from?"

"I was born in Germany but I lived in Italy for a very, very, very long time."

"Interesting. So you are a worldly woman. I've never set foot outside of the States in my life. Hawaii was the farthest from home I've ever travelled."

"I've never been to Hawaii. Maybe I'll go there someday."

"So, what are your plans in Vegas?" asked the cowboy after a while.

"I was thinking about starting as a hostess in a casino. I found out that people seem unable to refuse an invitation from me."

 _"Tell me about it,"_ thought the cowboy.

* * *

The first ever second-generation dhampir (and dhampir-Quileute hybrid) was born after a gestation period of roughly the same length as with ordinary dhampir babies. It was Seth's and Jennifer's first child, a boy named Harry (after Seth's father).

Fawkes came to take a look at the hybrid but didn't show much interest.

Judging by the smell, the boy's wolf-genes were activated from the moment of his birth but he had yet to shape-shift. Maybe it wasn't as automatic for him as for normal wolves? Otherwise, he seemed to posses all characteristics of other dhampirs. His teeth weren't grown yet though and he wasn't drinking blood but his mother's milk.

* * *

Bella and Edward docked their boat by a short wooden dock at a beach of Isle Esme. They unloaded their baggage first.

Their daughter had married Jacob a few days earlier. Just like Bella and Edward after their own wedding, they decided not to go away for their honeymoon for safety reasons. That reminded Edward that he and Bella had not had a vacation since they got married and that they deserved one.

Carlisle and Esme offered for them to use the Isle Esme. It had not been used in a decade so Carlisle wanted to arrange for a cleaning crew to make the house there more presentable in advance. However, Bella, being her cautious herself, argued that it telegraphed their intention too far ahead and that giving the house some maintenance was something they could do by themselves.

And so the two of them found themselves standing on a beach of Isle Esme.

"If you don't mind, I would like to do something first," announced Edward.

"Huh?" reacted Bella because Edward wasn't elaborating through his mind.

He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the house at human pace.

"What are you doing?" asked Bella even though it was obvious.

"Better late than never. I did this once already, strictly speaking, but you were asleep at the time."

He showed her the memory as he said that. Along with the detail that Fawkes was there. Bella instinctively looked around, checking that the bird wasn't following them.

"I don't think he's that interested in us any more," commented Edward.

He carried his wife over the threshold.

"Plus, he's got other people to spy on now," remarked Bella when she was standing on her own feet again.

 _"Can we not talk about that, please?"_ thought Edward.

"Have a look around," he said out loud. "I'll fetch the baggage."

Everything was covered by dust sheets. Bella decided to wash the floors quickly before removing them (and then again afterwards). By the time she found a broom cupboard and retrieved a rag and a bucket, Edward moved all the baggage to the porch. She joined him there. It seemed that he wanted to tell her something and he was making sure not to reveal it prematurely by his thoughts.

He took her hands in his and told her, "Bella, I risk here that I'm going to piss you off but I need to tell you something really weird. I love you."

She grinned and answered, "I must be getting soft but guess what? I don't mind."

A few days later, another boat arrived. A man named Gustavo and his wife Kaure brought them some supplies (such as paint and floor-wax).

Kaure seemed suspicious about them. It didn't matter as much as before but being thorough, Bella and Edward decided to take a look at what she thought.

"You have to be kidding me," exclaimed Bella when the humans left. "We searched for Nahuel for so long and a solid lead was here all along."

"Amen," agreed Edward.


	20. Next Generation

Next Generation

Elizabeth's and Jacob's first child, a boy, was born. After almost deciding to name him Sirius, they opted for something normal and named him John. Jennifer and Seth had another child by them, a girl who they named Sue.

By that time, a necessity arose to send a representative of the pack to the Makah tribe, at least for some time. This necessity stemmed from another Makah (after Embry) becoming a wolf. He had Quileute ancestors, of course, and was, in fact, related to Emily and Clearwaters, but unlike in Embry's case, his ancestors were more in the past.

The trigger which had activated the wolf genes was probably the invasion of the Romanian army the previous year. The wolf was on a slow burn ever since until he finally phased. An alternative was to move any "afflicted" Makah to La Push but this idea was discarded. They didn't wish to stress any new wolves by displacing them from their homes. Moreover, such a move would deprive the tribe of defenders against vampires. It had to admitted that as allies of the Quileutes, the Makahs could become a target.

In short term, sending Embry over there was the fastest solution. While he considered La Push his home, he didn't have any close ties there yet (besides his mother, his friends, and fellow pack members). In long term, another logical choice was for Sam and Emily to move there for a while (with Emily being Makah), along with their kids. That was problematic, considering that this family was an integral part of the Quileute community, but it was necessary.

Seth and Jennifer could theoretically relive them in future but that depended on their children. Their son Harry learned how to trigger his change so they had their hands full as it was. They hoped that Makah would learn how to live with wolves among them in the meantime.

* * *

The satellite network was used to hunt down many rogue Dementors and then they started recalibrating it for vampires of ultimate generation. It was something that had never been done before and as expected, they couldn't pick the signals up among the static. It seemed that the easiest way to do this was for Rufus Feller to serve as a test subject but that was far in the future. In the meantime, semi-ancient vampires were used.

Another option was to somehow track their target using his Dark Mark. However, there were two problems with that. One was a need for another subject bearing the mark, which they didn't have. Moreover, they were fairly certain that changing into an ancient vampire destroyed the mark.

Various countries around the world were preparing for return of Feller's counterpart but vampires were no longer the priority. There were many other problems, such as increasing difficulties with maintaining secrecy. With the destruction of the Romanian ancient came an absence of an outer imminent threat. Many problems which had not been considered important suddenly became far more significant.

* * *

The dragon's interest in Elizabeth increased when she and Jacob were expecting another addition to their family. It became clear soon that the dragon was interested in the baby rather than in Elizabeth herself. The things became muddled again shortly afterwards when Elizabeth found out that she was carrying twins. Which one of them was the dragon there for? Or was it both of them?

Later on, they found out that the dragon was hiding an egg in her lair. That raised some more questions. What was the dragon intending to do with the egg? Was she attempting to start a new mini-colony in La Push? Had the egg anything to do with Elizabeth's twins?

It also answered some of the older mysteries partially. It was difficult to say with the dragon being a hybrid but what they knew indicated that the dragon had been carrying the egg when she arrived to their help. Moreover, she didn't leave since and there were no visitors. This meant that the egg and the promise of Elizabeth's children had been the reason why the dragon flew to Washington in the first place.

The twins were born - a boy and a girl. For various reasons (the confusion with the dragon being one of them), their parents didn't come to a decision about their names until after they were born, when the task was made easier by knowing their genders. They didn't name the boy Harry (after Harry Potter) because there was one Harry around already. They decided to name him James instead. While it was a name of a certain nomad vampire who had foolishly decided to hunt Bella ages ago, it was also the name of Harry Potter's father and the name of the island on which the dragon resided. Taking the boy's name into account, they decided to name the girl Lily rather than Sarah (after Jacob's mother - Jacob's older sisters had named some of their children after their parents already anyway). Bella told her daughter that it was somewhat incestuous. However, she had to to admit that if Harry had survived and married Ginny, they would name two of their children James and Lily too.

In the meantime, John and other dhampir-Quileute hybrids went to visit the dragon as well. Not alone, obviously, but accompanied by their parents. John especially was awed by the magnificent creature (and the fact that it had chosen La Push as a hatch-place for her brood) but none of them felt any special kinship to the dragon or her egg.

James wanted to go visit the dragon as soon as he was able to walk and understand the situation. His parents weren't sure about that. While the dragon seemed peaceful, it seemed rather extreme to bring "toddlers" to her lair. Moreover, Lily wasn't as interested in visiting James Island as her brother and he insisted on both of them going.

When they did finally venture to the island, they saw flashes coming from the lair. Most probably from dragon breath. Fawkes wasn't anywhere to be seen. Perhaps he had gone in advance. John and others accompanied the party.

"She must be breathing on the egg," observed Elizabeth.

Jacob remembered the Peruvian dragons who didn't breathe flames and wondered how they kept the eggs warm. By sitting on them?

Fawkes was waiting for them near the lair indeed. Had he appraised the dragon that they were coming? Maybe the dragon was able to foresee that on her own.

Jacob peeked in. The egg was hatching. They tried to approach, adults first, but the dragon gave them a warning growl. Through her heavy mental presence, they could feel that weren't allowed to approach - with the exception of the two smallest ones.

James and Lily slowly walked toward the dragon. The girl followed her brother more out of her loyalty to him rather than for her own reasons. Still, she found the little dragon quite sweet when it emerged from the egg.

"So, one of them is like, going to bond with the baby dragon and become some kind of a dragon rider?" whispered Jacob, breaking the atmosphere somewhat.

"No, that kind of stuff happens only in fantasy novels," hushed him Elizabeth.

The little dragon got himself on his feet and attempted to roar. It sounded more like a flute.

Lily and James reached the hatchling. The dragon mother didn't show any further reaction or protest.

In the end, nothing special happened. That is, nothing more special than what happened to Hagrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they hatched a dragon - a freshly hatched dragon usually trusts people around. Ergo, there was still no clear indication whether the dragons (and Fawkes) were interested in James or Lily. On the other hand, it seemed like Lily intended to leave any dragon businesses to her brother. Maybe because the hatchling was a boy.

While nothing special happened, it also seemed that whatever was supposed to happen, happened. The dragon mother was no longer interested in Elizabeth. Not that she started to pay any special attention to James (or Lily) either. However, she did allow him (and Lily) to play with her son.

Fawkes stopped paying any attention to the matter altogether. He was still hovering around Elizabeth, which indicated that whoever he was expecting was yet to be born. That wasn't going to happen any time soon because Elizabeth and Jacob decided to take a break from having any more children.

* * *

The Makah wolf came across a track of a vampire. It emerged from the ocean and continued roughly south-east in a straight line. It was probably left by a randomly passing nomad and it was outside of Makah territory so there wasn't much reason to worry but it made the Quileutes to rethink their arrangement.

Sam, who had lived in the Makah reservation with his family for almost a year, didn't like the risk of having to phase (and arrest his ageing). Moreover, even the short presence of the vampire in the area posed a risk of another wolf phasing. While Sam was able to provide guidance to the wolf who had been trained by Embry already, he wouldn't be able to take care of a new one without phasing himself.

Hence, it made sense for Seth to replace Sam. He moved to the Makah reservation along with Jennifer and their two children. They planned to stay there for two years.

* * *

Stefan returned to talk to Smith from time to time. A direct contact with Rufus Feller wasn't on the table yet but for the time being, he was happy to let Stefan serve as an intermediate.

According to Stefan, there was no word from Vladimir yet. That meant that he was either dead or didn't want to risk blowing his cover.

* * *

In the second half of the second term of the current president, the government and people like John Smith started to ask themselves what should be done next. They couldn't simply reverse what was happening and insulate the magical world of North America again. It wouldn't help much anyway because Britain wasn't going to do the same.

Not that there was much danger of the remnants of old establishment (connected to former friends of Rufus Feller) pushing their own Democrat or Republican candidate. After all, they still didn't know what was going on. However, the new establishment knew that their advantage wasn't going to last. And then it hit them - no woman had ever been a president of the United States yet. Somewhere down the line, the old establishment could pull this ace out and use it against them. The best thing to do was to take this wind out of their sails by pulling this ace first.

Hence, it was decided that next president should be a woman (or rather that one should run on their behalf). Considering that the current president wasn't a veteran, it was also decided that she should be. In the end, a list of primary and secondary parameters was compiled to narrow their search. Primary traits were: military experience, grandmother but not too old, leadership experience, previous political experience but not too high-profile, third party or without affiliation, reasonably known to public. Secondary ones were: medical military career, knowledge of the magical world and/or related to a wizard, mildly conservative.

John Smith participated in creation of these criteria though he warned his peers that he was thinking about a relative of his when he was making his suggestions. Thanks to his forewarning, it wasn't much of a surprise when a niece of his grandparents came up as one of the best candidates. What came as a surprise was an unrelated fact that she met Carlisle ages ago.

The organizers of the presidential debates attempted to adapt to the new situation after loosing much of their credibility during last two elections but the leading candidates failed to agree on conditions and format. As a result, various pairs of final candidates participated in debates hosted by various television channels. The audience couldn't help but notice that the Democrat candidate and the Republican one seemed to support each other.

* * *

Billy Black passed away. While it was inherently sad, Jacob didn't view it as a great tragedy. Given his father's problems with diabetes, it was more like getting some well deserved rest.

Jacob and Elizabeth had another child afterwards. It wasn't entirely planned for but they weren't planning against it either. With this pregnancy, the mystery of Fawkes's presence in La Push was resolved - he was interested in the child. During the last week of the pregnancy, Fawkes sung a few notes in Elizabeth's presence and the child reacted by moving in her womb.

Elizabeth and Jacob took this neutrally. It wasn't bad and nor was it good. It was a commitment. Once again, they dilly-dallied with the naming.

When Elizabeth gave birth to a boy, the bird's reaction confirmed it all. It was consistent with what they knew about phoenixes bonding to wizards. Of course, no one had ever heard about a phoenix bonding to two (or more) wizards, especially so soon after the death of the first one.

Given the situation, they decided to let the name reflect the role, rather than naming him after Billy. Emmett jokingly suggested Albus, Percival, or Brian. Bella vehemently suggested against Emmett's suggestion. The last thing she wanted was for the boy to become next Albus Dumbledore. Jacob and Elizabeth themselves weren't willing to give the boy a name such as Albus or Percival. In the end, they named him Harry - after Harry Potter. There was one Harry already (after Harry Clearwater) but they guessed that they would have to deal with the confusion.

What was going to become of Fawkes's new "master" wasn't going to be seen any time soon. The other children were shaping up already however.

John seemed to be most like his father, both in looks and abilities. His wolf form was powerful for his age. He had a good grip on his telepathy and was able to control what other wolves were able to hear from him and what he wanted to hear from them. Moreover, he seemed to posses general telepathic abilities - something he possibly inherited from Edward.

John seemed to be more interested in exploring his Quileute heritage though. He believed that the "spirit walking" mentioned in their legends had been probably some sort of a psychic skill which was later made unusable through introduction of werewolf genes (the controlling of which took all their mental powers). He hoped that thanks to his improved intellect, he was going to be able to unlock those powers once again. As a part of that endeavour, he obtained a dog to practice some of his powers on.

Because of the age gap between Harry and his older siblings, Elizabeth and Jacob decided to have yet another child to provide him with a playmate. They sure didn't want him to have Fawkes as his only companion. When another boy was born, they named him Billy after Jacob's late father. Jacob had a nephew named Billy already but another one couldn't hurt.

* * *

Teddy became ten years old and it was time to start planning his magical education. One of Andromeda's first ideas was to send him to Britain so he could study in one of the new magical schools founded by Hermione. However, Teddy was strongly against it. La Push was his home and he didn't want to go that far away. An American (or Canadian) school it was then.

Another issue was a wand. One option was to get him a new one but Teddy knew already that Bella's old wand was still free. Elizabeth's and Jacob's children had held it but there was no reaction, as expected. It wasn't just a matter of compatibility with that particular wand, it was the fact that wands were manufactured for humans and couldn't connect with the hybrids.

The wand proved to be compatible with Teddy indeed. Maybe it was because he was related to Bella, maybe because he truly wished to wield it. The wand was broken in by Bella already so in inheriting the wand, he also inherited all the things she had taught it.

Andromeda found the bond (between Teddy and the wand) a bad omen and she wasn't the only one. She hoped that he would have some normal career such as a warder, a broom manufacturer, or a Floo network worker. Alas, he was too thrilled by stories about his parents and their friends and wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps. Bella had to admit that if there was going to be another war with vampires in future, then having a wand which could easily cast killing curses and other offensive spells could be useful.

* * *

As the dhampir-Quileute hybrids grew, it became apparent that they were following the same maturing curve as their mothers. That was no surprise. It was theorized that if an ordinary Quileute child was somehow made to start phasing prematurely, it would grow as quickly as a dhampir.

James's dragon friend grew at an expectable rate. So far there was no indication what was the purpose of it all. He was spending a lot of time with him though. More than with his own twin sister, truth to be told.

The situation around little Harry and Fawkes was much clearer. It was becoming apparent that he was a wizard. While all his siblings were magical as well, he was so far the only one with predisposition to cast spells. Maybe it was due to Fawkes's influence, maybe he had a lucky combination of genes. He couldn't use a regular wand and it was unknown whether any kind of a foci could ever be invented for him but that didn't seem to matter. His mind was sharp enough to focus his magic even without one.

Billy's companionship didn't have the desired effect on Harry, quite the opposite. Instead of drawing Harry away from Fawkes, Billy tagged along with the two of them. The bird was cordial towards the youngest hybrid. Elizabeth and Bella hoped that it was for Harry's sake and not because he had special plans for Billy as well.

There was one thing in which Billy's companionship affected Harry though. Billy was rather partial to science fiction and this interest was partially transferred to Harry, who would be probably interested only in the world of magic otherwise.

Seth and his family returned from the Makah reservation. John welcomed this because Sue used to be his playmate. After all, she was the only other hybrid his age. In fact, the two of them were the only representatives of their kind who had the same age (with the exception of the twins). Not that it mattered in long term but for those who weren't six years old yet, a difference of several months was equivalent to an age gap of a few years.

Both Harry (the older one) and Sue welcomed being back. Being the only two dhampir children in the Makah reservation isolated them a little and truth to be told, they were getting tired of each other's companionship.

John and Sue resumed their friendship quickly.

* * *

When the time for Teddy to go shopping for school supplies with his grandmother came, Harry wished to come along. He was curious about the magical world of North America. Unfortunately, such a thing was ill advised and he realized it perfectly well. Existence of a magical prodigy such as him was better kept secret and such a trip could put the secrecy in jeopardy because of his accidental magic. It was better for him to wait till he was older and had his magic under control.

John came up with an alternative idea though. He could accompany Teddy and Andromeda instead and show him the memories later. He managed to convince his parents and Andromeda to allow this.

Later on, Sue learned about his plan. She asked if she could came along with them as well. After all, her presence could help John to be more inconspicuous. Truth to be told, she was simply curious. Her brother didn't share her sentiment and scoffed at the idea. In the end, however, she was allowed to join the group.

When the day of the trip arrived, Bella gave John and Sue each a small purse of Sickles and Knuts. She didn't want them to have to borrow from Andromeda.

"Now, I presume you are prepared for trouble?" she asked them.

John revealed a compact CZ75 under his coat. Sue didn't do the same and just nodded instead. Both of them were dressed in an old-fashioned way as was usual among American wizards. Luckily, they didn't have to wear traditional robes as was usual in Britain.

"Keep those hidden," she cautioned them. "Unless something extreme happens, which is highly unlikely. In case there's any smaller trouble, leave talking to Andromeda and get out of there."

There wasn't much to worry about though. There had not been any incidents in a long time.

The regional equivalent of Diagon Alley was both different from Diagon Alley and more like what Diagon Alley used to be at the same time. Unlike in Britain, there were no military patrols. That much was same as in Diagon Alley in the old times. However, there weren't any semi-ancient vampires either and just a few house elves. What was same was presence of goblins. They didn't go to a bank though - Andromeda's stash of gold at home was enough to cover Teddy's expanses. Especially since they didn't have to buy a wand.

Nothing notable happened during the purchases. Teddy asked if they could get an ice-cream afterwards. Andromeda didn't like the idea much but a young wizard goes to a magical school for the first time only once in his life. She nodded in the end.

They went to an ice cream and coffee parlour they had seen earlier. Teddy got a sundae while Andromeda ordered a tea. John's and Sue's attention was caught by a some fizzy herbal drink. The curious thing was that the bubbles were going down instead of up. While their were curious, they weren't equally adventurous and so they bought only one glass which they shared. As suspected, the bubbles went down even after being drunk.

A nearby wizard was so offended by the result that he finished his coffee, paid, and left. Luckily, his annoyance seemed to be targeted at the establishment rather than at the two "teens". He also left his newspaper behind. Something on the last page caught John's interest.

"Check this out," he told Sue and showed her a job advert for the American dragon mini-colony. "They are looking for interns to help them take care of dragons. A previous experience with dragons is an advantage."

"You mean help them shovel dragon poop? Don't we have enough of that at home?"

"At home, we've got one dragon who isn't that interesting any more and one tenth of dragon who may or may not turn into something remarkable. Over there, we could be in presence of more of those. As a telepath, I'm quite interested how would that feel like."

"We?" asked Sue.

"Well, you can come along, if you like. I can go alone, if you don't."

Sue read the advertisement again.

"Why would they need more interns?" she wondered. "Don't they have enough wizards?"

"Well, there's more dung to process lately."

They both knew that a wizard fresh out of school applying for a job in a dragon colony needed to start from the very bottom. That meant basic tasks such as taking care of food for dragons or working with their excrements. It was some time since the things had calmed down in the world but food consumption in dragon colonies was still above average.

"Maybe they need all educated wizards doing research," mused John. "That means getting extra help for menial tasks."

"Very well, we can talk to that wizard who comes to check on our dragons."

John's idea stumped his (and Sue's) parents a little. Elizabeth herself spent her childhood caged in a relatively small area because of safety reasons and even after she grew up, she didn't feel any extra need to leave La Push and see the world. It was partly because she had quite a large family on her hands but mostly she was simply a more domestic person. Hence, she couldn't relate to John's desire to go away. At the same time, she didn't expect her children to feel the same way she did.

Jacob asked all the same questions as Sue had asked. Wasn't John satisfied with shovelling poop of their resident dragon? What exactly did he hope to gain out of it? In the end, the main issue was safety. It spoke in John's favour that it was highly improbable that anybody would start anything in a middle of a dragon colony. He was going to have to hide the dhampir part of his heritage, of course, and claim that he was just an ordinary Quileute wolf.

When John spoke about this with James, he (John) asked him, "Don't you ever think about the same? Wouldn't you want to see more dragons and work with them?"

"As a matter of fact, no. My interest is only in one dragon. Also, I don't feel that it would be what our dragons want. If the mother wanted him to live in a dragon colony, she would lay his egg there."

"Are you ever going to name him?"

"No. I know his smell. He knows mine."

They talked about the matter with the "vet" from the preserve when he visited next time. He was surprised but he confirmed that it was indeed possible for non-wizards to shovel dragon excrements. However, he most probably couldn't hope to make a career there. John was OK with that, he wasn't a scientist. However, he asked for reassurance that he was actually going to work in vicinity of dragons. The wizard explained that more experienced interns moved dragon poop from point A (the dump taking place) to point B and newbies took care of transportation from point B to point C (and other less risky tasks). While John (and Sue) couldn't skip point C because it wouldn't be fair, their previous experience with dragons (and higher physical prowess) could allow them to do A to C job instead.

Sue confirmed that she was going to apply along with John. While the grown-ups were arranging all of it, John discussed it with his brother Harry. While Harry's academical interests laid elsewhere, he kept tabs on John's progress as well.

"Check this out," he (John) told him.

He commanded his dog to stay still and gazed into his eyes for a moment. When the dog ran off again, John could see through his eyes and control his feet. It used to creep the hell out of the dog but he was quite accustomed to it now.

"So, you aren't really in that dog?" asked Harry.

"Correct," answered John and turned the dog around. He released the connection and continued, "It goes back to brain capacity. Our ancestors couldn't focus on their own bodies when they were influencing animals or when they were spirit-walking. I can."

The dog returned and John made the connection again.

"Can you feel me there?" he asked.

"Nope," answered Harry after a while. "Then again, I'm not a good mind reader. You should ask grandma."

As stated, spirit magic wasn't one of Harry's interests. While he was a general sorcerer, he focussed in two specific areas - exotic radiations and time-space magic. Those were actually study (and research) areas from higher academic circles. These interests partially overlapped with those which were, among others, pursued by James and Billy. James was interested in the practical side of the former (which translated to mere fire conjuring at his current age). Billy was interested in theory of the latter.

Fawkes didn't comment their discussion in any way. Maybe because John was hooked already.

Of John's and Sue's short career in dragon dung shovelling, there's little to be said. Sue was the only one who was with him for the whole time and she didn't reveal anything special. When he wasn't moving dung, he was meditating near the dragons. Wizards in the colony didn't pay attention to him and he didn't share any of his insights with the researchers.

When they took a longer vacation after half a year, John seemed to be affected by his experience. The same could be said about Sue but not as much. This indicated that John was letting the dragons to influence him.

One of the changes was a higher resoluteness and being more goal driven. That much could be told from the way they announced to their parents that they wished to get married after their commitment in the colony was over. All four parents were surprised, to say at least. While it wasn't entirely unexpected and even seemed logical to a certain degree, they were still somewhat shocked because there were no hints that it was coming.

John and Sue returned "for good" another half a year later. John never returned to the colony again but he liked to spend time with James and his dragon or the dragon female.

As a point of interest, Lily started keeping hippogriffs. They had to get a licence and keep them hidden but that wasn't such a problem considering that they were harbouring a much larger creature already.

There was a wedding, as planned. It was first one between two hybrids. Sue's brother Harry was in a relationship by that time as well but with an ordinary Quileute girl.

John stayed in La Push for next four years with his wife and two children. In his free time, he developed his magical abilities, studied languages, bred dogs, and, of course, hunted rogue vampires and werewolves.

Harry Black started venturing into the magical world carefully. Having Fawkes on his shoulder opened doors which would be normally closed to him and Smith's connections made it possible to keep his visits clandestine.

Bella asked Harry once what was it that Fawkes wanted him to do.

"That's the funny thing," he told her. "He doesn't make any suggestions any more. He pretty much leaves me to my own devices. More or less like when he was with Dumbledore."

Bella assumed that it meant that Fawkes achieved all he wanted to achieve (for now).

* * *

One day, John revealed another shocking idea. He wanted to join the military. There were two things which everybody else (with the exception of Sue) considered problematic about it.

First of all, he had children. Leaving them at home just with their mother seemed wrong. However, Sue supported his decision.

Secondly, it was till then unheard of and possibly complicated. While many "retired" wolves worked as drone operators and many active ones worked with the military on special assignments related to vampire activity, none of them joined the military in a regular manner and participated in mundane operations. Moreover, no dhampir (or hybrid) worked with the military at all, as their existence was still a secret.

His request was met with befuddlement among brass as well. At first, they didn't understand what he was asking for. He was humoured in the end though. While NATO wasn't involved in any wars and terrorism was mostly fought using drones and proxy armies, they could still see how he could be useful. Or maybe for that reason exactly because living people still had to be deployed sometimes and deployment of living boots or pilots into a hostile territory had its drawbacks. When a drone was damaged or compromised, it was simple to self-destruct it. When people got in trouble, it was a huge problem. Sending John along as a backup would ensure safety of his comrades, at least against human enemies. His age was also a problem so he had to pretend to be "older".

John didn't join up alone - he was allowed to bring some of his dogs with him. Given his magical abilities, being a K9 handler was a perfect official role for him. In addition to that, he was qualified as a translator. On a bright note, he didn't have to leave La Push immediately as his training was conducted on the local base. Though he was more lethal than any soldier already, he still needed one to be able to serve.

During this time, Harry and Billy left La Push to study astrophysics. Billy was by that time shaping to be of a more technical vocation but he felt that following his older brother into this field was the right thing to do. For their convenience, they repaired their father's old truck (the one Bella had been using years ago) and enhanced it with magic in a similar fashion as Arthur Weasley.

Teddy finished his general magical education and entered an Auror academy.

When John was deployed, his comrades had to sign a special but seemingly redundant NDA. They were led to believe that it concerned an experimental K9 handling technique. This was confirmed when they saw what was John able to make his dog do. From occasional overhears of their thoughts, he learned that they thought that he and his dogs had microchip implants in their brains which connected them.

Another time he interrogated a captured terrorist, being the only who spoke his language. At least, that's what his comrades thought they saw. In reality, he asked the captive a few questions designed to make him think about the intel and then he simply read his mind and reported what he learned. Neither side noticed anything out of ordinary.

This part of John's career ended when he was forced to reveal that there was more to him than met the eye. He and his squad were caught in a bad situation. They all got out of it relatively unharmed but John's cover was blown. While his comrades were put in isolation to be debriefed, John was pulled from his assignment.

By that time, the Israelis managed to finish their anti-vampire suits (the ones they had demonstrated to Bella and Hermione years ago). However, a super-human was needed to serve as an oversight and a backup on their first operations. Since John was in the army already, he was sent there. The advantage of this assignment was that Sue was able to visit and even stay with him for extended periods of time. During their time there, they joined IKMF and eventually become Krav Maga instructors. This not only didn't make much sense for the two of them but they weren't even that good as instructors due to vast differences in their physical dispositions from their students. Still, it was a good thing to have on one's resume.

They returned just in time to attend Teddy's and Leah's wedding.

Afterwards, John revealed another one of his ideas. He wanted to go to an academy and become an officer. On top of that, Sue also decided to follow him in his career choice. Not in the exactly same way though. After consulting with Carlisle, she decided to become a medic. Once again, this wasn't met with much understanding but they were given they way.

* * *

John Smith's cousin finished her second term. The new establishment estimated that the public wasn't interested in trying another political experiment right after having a female president. They selected a respectable, elderly, white man to support in his candidacy. The old establishment betted on the exact opposite and failed.

* * *

John's career of an officer was more productive than its first half. As a lieutenant, he had greater control over any situation which helped him both to contribute more and to keep his nature hidden from his men. It also helped that his direct supervisor knew the truth about him.

His stellar (by human standard) but utterly mundane service was interrupted by an incident in a certain country in eastern Europe. A group of local wizards attempted to discreetly gain control of the non-magical government. This group wasn't very numerous when compared to, let's say, Death Eaters at their peak but they represented opinion of majority of the magical population of the country.

The case was complicated because unlike in the war with Death Eaters, there wasn't any good or bad side. Concerns of those wizards were relatively justified. They feared that recent developments could jeopardize their ability to remain hidden. Numbers of government officials who knew about their world grew, just like their knowledge of capabilities and limitations of wizards.

On the other hand, they couldn't be just allowed to use magic to subvert the government. It would create a dangerous precedent and it would surely scare all the governments around the world who knew about wizards. That was an especially sensitive topic in USA and Britain, where wizards and military were helping their own pre-selected candidates to win the elections.

By then, Bella was a recognized expert for untangling difficult and sticky situations. She was one of the people tasked with investigating the matter. It was quickly discovered that some of Feller's old "acquaintances" from his human life had ties with the local government. That was startling - they didn't wish such people to learn about magic.

ICW, which had been rather silent for many years, chose this opportunity to remind everybody of its existence. They watched the situation closely to make sure that no wizards were mistreated.

A task force was needed to stabilize the situation. Bella requested her grandson John specifically. He had been promoted to a captain recently and was, in fact, well suited for the task. He was even allowed to bring some of his men along. He selected those who had been suspecting him for some time already. To say that they were floored by the revelation would be an understatement.

Another reinforcement came from Rufus Feller. He sent Stefan to help them deal with the "acquaintances". Bella pulled him aside as soon as he arrived.

"Is Feller involved in this in any way, not matter how indirect?" she demanded.

"It wouldn't surprise me," answered Stefan. "But if he is, then he hid it well even from me."

In the end, the best solution proved to be the exact opposite of what had been done in Britain - a more thorough separation of the two worlds (magical and mundane). Every muggle in the government who knew anything was obliviated and special advisers were assigned to the local community to help them stay hidden better.

Wizards had to abandon certain areas because magic couldn't hide them from modern technologies. This included a mini-Hogwarts-like school-castle which was one of the oldest landmarks of the magical world of the country. It had to be evacuated, all magical items removed, and wards stripped away. Nothing could be done about ghosts there (baring total exorcism) but that wasn't a problem. The structure itself was demolished to a state expectable for such old castles.

None of these and other concessions made by the local wizards were very popular but their younger generations understood that it was necessary. Unlike British wizards in the time of Bella's childhood, they knew what an orbital satellite was and how difficult it was to hide something big from it.

While this part of the mission was carried out without violence, the part Stefan was there to help with brought enough bloodshed on its own. They tracked down those who had been trying to get the recently obliviated officials in their pocket. Stefan provided Bella with all the information he possessed on those people and their assets. Bella asked him to leave afterwards. She intended to take John along and it was safer for Stefan not to be in the picture.

Working in secret, they murdered their primary targets. It was more thorough than obliviation. It also helped that while they were rich and powerful, they weren't public figures. Bella read their minds and determined a set of secondary targets - more of Feller's old colleagues in corruption. With these, they were more subtle and resorted to accidents and seemingly natural causes rather than direct assassinations.

Killing such people was a serious business. People like that considered themselves untouchable and deaths of so many of them was sure to rankle those who had ties to them. News were surely going to spread through their grapevine and they were going to wonder who could be possibly responsible. However, a leak of information about the magical world to their circles was a far worse alternative.

John was taken from his command position afterwards and reassigned to a reawakened project of swarm drones (the one Hermione had tested with Bella years ago). He wasn't first hybrid to try it but his results belonged to one of the better ones.

Sue's career was quite uneventful but people started noticing her immense strength so she had to be pulled from field operations and reassigned to a military hospital.

At at the end of his career, John was assigned to the La Push base where he served as an instructor shortly. Then he was honourably discharged from the army. That is, on the paper at least. With so few people with the capability of controlling swarm drones, he had to remain available.

Harry Black continued in his studies and research, along with his brother Billy. In the end, he came up with an idea that the underlying principle that made apparation (of both human and house-elf variety) and Portkeys could be used for FTL space travel.

While such an idea sounded fantastical to non-wizards and as a nonsense to wizards, he wasn't actually the first to dabble in this area. Several years earlier, a wizard with muggle roots and his team of aides measured (using quantum entanglement devices for synchronisation) that apparation was indeed faster than light. Their experiment wasn't accurate enough to estimate the actual speed or to even determine if it was finite (or whether apparation was instantaneous).

After Harry consulted several scientist (both magical and non-magical) and gained their attention (all the while posing as an ordinary Quileute with wizarding ancestry), he and Billy started constructing an experiment which could serve as a proof of concept.

* * *

In recesses of darknet deeper and far more obscure than Tor network, a meeting took place. The participants did not connect to each other but to a central hub through many proxies, starting with their own ones and ending with those provided by the hub operator. Most participants used VR goggles for their convenience but that was just a client side illusion. In reality, only text could be sent due to the amount of relay points.

"Thank you all for coming," welcomed everybody the one who summoned the meeting. His words were automatically transcribed and then resynthesised on the side of the other participants (with a small lag). As a result, everybody heard a different voice. Only those who had met him personally adjusted the settings for him to resemble his natural voice.

They talked about the current situation. Rufus Feller was mentioned. All the circumstances surrounding him seemed suspicious. They didn't even know whether he was dead, whether he pretended to be dead, or if somebody took his place and worked against them posing as Feller.

In the end, they agreed that the best way to proceed was to dig deep and wait the current situation out. It could take some time but that hardly mattered to them - they weren't a group of individuals, they were a group of dynasties.

When the meeting concluded, the one who summoned it took his VR goggles off. He looked at a person standing behind him. It was a semi-ancient vampire but the man had no knowledge of such things and the vampire was wearing a mask. The man couldn't deny that his presence was creeping him out though.

The vampire spoke first without waiting for the man to relay what the others had said. After all, he heard everything even though the man used headphones built into the VR goggles. They had a brief discussion. In the meantime, the hub powered down and because there were no hard-disks involved, all evidence disappeared along with electricity.

A few days later, the semi-ancient vampire (who actually wasn't ancient at all from chronological point of view) met his creator. Talking at vampire speed, the semi-ancient one revealed all he had learned.

"Keep an eye on them," said the ancient one afterwards. "They might prove useful yet."

"My lord," reasoned his fledgling. "Their minds are as weak as their egos are big. They will collapse should they ever learn the truth."

A human would laugh knowingly at this point but the ancient one merely raised his finger and clarified without any emotion in his voice, "Their usefulness won't exhibit itself through their direct action. They are like mice which you drop into a cage of a wild animal. If the animal eats the mice, you can assume that it's carnivorous. Similarly, these people might help me learn what are the intentions of my counterpart."


	21. Revelation

Revelation

John and Sue mostly resumed their settled-down life from the time before John had joined the army. They even had two more children. But as expected, John didn't remain "idle" for long.

Esme's non-profit organization which provided asylum to abused women and girls started facing increasingly serious problems with violent husbands or even parents and other relatives following after some of the "clients". She couldn't believe that such things were still possible a century after her own flight from her husband and parents.

The usual employees and volunteers were utterly unprepared for such situations and started leaving the organization in droves. In the beginnings of the organization, such cases were rare and Esme used to deal with them vigilante-style. That wasn't possible in a larger scale - it would be too conspicuous. Police couldn't help much either.

Esme turned to John for help. He contacted veterans who served with him and who were unable to find jobs. Some of them didn't quite understand how could they possibly be of any help in such an organization. John told them to trust him and try it. Moreover, it prevented the men from having a blank space in their CVs.

Having these men on board helped to stabilize the situation indeed. At the same time, it changed the culture of the organization. Surprisingly, it didn't made the clients uncomfortable. If anything, the women felt more secure.

It didn't take long for them to draw criticism of some media in the state, especially the liberal ones. There were talks about "crude militia" sticking their noses in private affairs of families. Esme wasn't happy about that but John told her, "Don't worry. Bad publicity is still a publicity."

Just as he expected, donations increased. The same went for awareness of victims about the help they could receive from them.

The organization gradually branched out. The veterans couldn't work there forever so they started providing them aid in searching for jobs. After all, that was what they had been doing for the women seeking their aid for some time already. And because many of their clients for whom they found a job had children, they started a daycare service as well (which employed some of the girls who were suitable for the job and couldn't find another one).

Moreover, as the goal was to re-integrate the clients into society, they provided a variation of a dating/matchmaking service. More criticism was drawn when it was leaked that some of the girls ended up marrying the veterans or, in a few cases, even Quileutes.

Again, Esme had mixed feelings about the changes. She had founded the charity ages ago with Carlisle's help. Back then, she meant it as a humble gesture of kindness. John was giving it a corporate feel and organisation.

The higher ups didn't like them to be so high profile either but at least any meta and transhumans were keeping themselves hidden. That changed when one of the veterans contacted John with a serious concern one day.

"A young girl came to us a week ago," informed him the veteran. "She doesn't speak English very well but we were able to understand that she ran away from home because her parents wanted to cut off her you-know-what down there. We made a report to police but no arrests were made. There's no evidence and she's old enough to legally choose to stay with us."

"I see. What's the problem then?"

"Well, she's worried about her father doing something radical. Prior to her fleeing, he was allegedly in contact with some unsavoury characters. Can you talk to her and find out more? She's here."

John found the girl assisting in a daycare. He asked her where she was from and then talked to her in her native language.

As it turned out, she used to have two older brothers. Both of them were dead. John asked for details and it caught his attention. They found out that both of her brothers had been killed in an operation led by him. One or both of them could have even been possibly killed by John himself. This revelation didn't raise any kind of emotion from the girl. That gave John a chill over his spine.

"You carry a gun here, right?" he asked the veteran as he was leaving.

"Of course. But I can't just shoot the bastard if he shows up here. If I misjudge the situation, I will end up in prison for sure."

John contacted a friend of his from homeland security. The information about him being reported by his own daughter didn't arrive to them from the police. The girl's father was in regular personal contact with a local spiritual leader. Recently though, he was seen entering the community centre out of "business hours" at the same time when a regional leader, who was on a watch list, was present as well.

John thought about it. The situation was troubling but he couldn't just ask Alice to keep an eye on it. She was working at full capacity as it was. Moreover, he was involved and that would make it even harder for her. Asking Teddy to help out with his changeling abilities was dangerous because involvement in this mundane matter could get him fired. As for Edward, he was out of town along with Bella and John himself needed to get close to a subject to read his mind. He didn't wish to be seen anywhere near those people because later developments could make it look suspicious in a police investigation. In the end, John merely asked his friend to be notified in case the father went their direction.

John received a call a week later. The father met with their watch list guy and left strangely bundled up. He was given a car (he didn't own one himself) and according to traffic cameras, he was driving right to them. John jumped in a car and drove to Esme's asylum centre. He called them and the same veteran picked it up. It seemed that he was there all the time since the situation began. John told him to evacuate everybody.

When the father arrived, John was leaning by the entrance. The man disembarked from his car and John smelled nitroglycerin. He quickly read his mind and drew his gun at the same time. What happened next was like a scene from a cheap Hollywood flick. He shot and the wannabe terrorist exploded in a fiery ball. A moment later, the car exploded as well. John managed to avert his eyes and cover his left ear. His right one was ringing though. That was one of disadvantages that wolves and dhampirs had against vampires.

The event caused an uproar and not just in the state of Washington. Luckily, police was cut off from the case straight from the beginning as it was clearly an attempted act of terror. The bomber's comrades were captured and supplies and equipment for bomb manufacturing were found. The mother was arrested but she denied any knowledge.

Everybody involved was taken into custody. John was separated from the others though and taken elsewhere. Jasper came to see him after half an hour. He asked him a few questions and told him that some people were coming to see him.

A group of government officials arrived. John knew some of them. Smith was present as well (and Jasper, of course). An improvised questioning we held.

As expected, the most important concern was the Statute of Secrecy. Smith relayed the opinion of the magical community.

"To put it shortly, they don't care. No magic was used, no one saw anything unnatural."

"And the mind reading?" asked Jasper.

"That's on par with a wizard using telepathy to cheat in poker. Disgraceful but for as long as nobody notices anything, no rules are technically broken."

"Still, what happened today is extremely high-profile," argued a military officer who had been handling John during his early career. "Couldn't you at least shoot the ass-hole in his head and get rid of the body?"

"There were witnesses," disagreed John. "In this time of cell-phone cameras, such shady practices could hurt the charity. After all, the whole reason for my involvement there was because we wanted to deal with such problems openly."

"Charity?" laughed a guy from homeland security. "It looks like some sort of an indirect war on terror to me."

"A non-profit one."

"I'll grant you that."

"They intend to audit you," disagreed another man. "Authorities think that you've outgrown the specification of your charitable purpose."

"Esme will deal with it," shrugged John. He almost slipped and said great-grandma.

"Gentlemen," admonished the officer. "We are here to discuss the ability of captain Black to keep his supernatural abilities secret."

"Media will cover this like crazy," mused the previous man. "His background needs to be able to withstand any scrutiny."

"We handled that when he joined the army," scoffed the officer.

"This time around, we need to ensure that it's really bulletproof. As if it was real."

"I can see to that," stated Jasper. "I was keeping our family hidden for decades."

With that settled, the meeting was dismissed. John went back to the centre where the others were waiting for him already. He talked to the girl. She was somewhat shaken but not surprised (or disappointed) by her father's actions. She didn't wish to see her mother either.

A footage of the incident from a security camera leaked somehow. It went viral before the day was over. A shortened version even became a meme - a ten second clip in which John shoots and the bad guy explodes along with his car. It only added to the publicity.

What happened over a half a year later was a direct result of this publicity and it brought headaches of higher-ups to a whole new level. John was approached by one of the third parties in Washington and asked to candidate with them to the state's house of representatives. They hoped that he would help them draw native American and veteran voters. Not promising anything, he discussed their program with them and made a request for a few changes required for him to join up with them. He was reading their minds thoroughly all the while. As a result, some of his questions were rather disconcerting for the people talking with him. In the end, he told them that he needed to discuss it with his wife.

To say that the people who had grilled him over shooting a terrorist in public reached a whole new level of headache would be an understatement. What John was considering seemed so inconceivable and dangerous. Alas, it all came down to the Statute of Secrecy. Very few people knew about John's dhampir descent and wizards thought that he was an ordinary Quileute with some magical ancestry. There were no protests from the magical authorities. Maybe because most of them didn't understand muggle political structures.

John himself, apart from talking to his family, sought only two blessings: from Fawkes and from the two dragons. He didn't get any reaction from either.

He agreed to temporarily join the party for a term. It wasn't much of a surprise when he got elected along with a few others from the party. Being few in number, they couldn't make any significant changes in state laws. Instead, they resorted to usual back-room tactics: trading their support to large parties in big things for later support in little things. John didn't use his telepathic power in all this time - there was never a reason which seemed morally legitimate enough.

What he wasn't ashamed to exploit was his superior intelligence and memory. During early debates and interviews, he was able to show encyclopaedic knowledge and professional understanding of about just any matter. Alas, the pinnacle of his show off came when he stopped a robbery of a convenience store on his way from work. Unlike in the previous case, there was no doubt that he did that for the sole purpose of scoring political points.

Many, even some of the people close to him, scoffed at that. Even his father Jacob considered it a vain show-off (even though he didn't disapprove of the act itself). Moreover, he didn't think that politics was a proper place for a Quileute wolf.

There was one person (beside his wife and children) who supported him - his grandmother Bella. They talked about his plans sometimes. She could see pieces of herself in him.

John didn't candidate again after his term was over. Instead, he took a break to work in a security agency which had split from Esme's charity. He candidated for the governor of Washington later on - as an independent with an unofficial support from his former party. Nobody was surprised much when he won.

This led to increased notoriety of his wife but she had known what she was signing for. It needs to be said that she proved to be just as unusual as her husband.

There was a small problem with John's parents not being able to make an appearance with him (because of their obvious youthfulness). So far, media simply assumed that they valued their privacy and didn't wish to be a part of their son's political life. John's and Sue's children made only a few limited appearances with them.

During this time, the third (newly elected) president in the office after the demise of Voldemort finished his second term. The people who supported those three presidents realized that they ran out of tricks. A logical choice was to select a man (or a woman) of colour to be their champion but they couldn't find a suitable candidate. Another idea was to choose a retired distinguished general but the problem with that was that the United States had not been in any war in a long time so there were weren't any Eisenhowers available.

Not that they wouldn't be able to push their candidate no matter what. In fact, Bella alone would be able to influence the election. The problem with that was that it would be immoral. A bitter fact about the whole cooperation of magicals and mundanes in America was that it was essentially becoming a new shadow force in the background. Given enough time, they would surely become like the old establishment, just with more power.

At the same time, it was this old establishment that was attempting to make a comeback. They all felt stupid for letting the situation come to a spot where a wrong president could cause severe drawbacks. However, what were their other options? Unlike in UK, they didn't have any fall-back in the monarch, who could legitimise their clandestine operations.

In the end, they found an interesting alternative: a repeat of the Ronald Reagan move. There was a popular actor and director who had recently finished his second term as governor (and didn't continue to third). He was planning to return to directing but that changed when he was approached by John Smith. After he got over the initial shock, he agreed to help, provided that his wife was going to agree. Smith suspected that it was mostly out of his sense of adventure.

A popular candidate didn't ensure success though. They had to to be able to combat the moves of Feller's old friends. To do that, they invited Stefan as a consultant. That was an unorthodox decision but their relationship with him had been quite productive in all those years.

Another factor they couldn't underestimate was a selection of a proper running mate. Both the presidential candidate and his supporters agreed that it should be a woman. In the end, they chose one with Mexican roots. She herself didn't flaunt those roots but they convinced her to use it in the campaign.

One of the biggest trumps in their arsenal was a public endorsement from John Black whose popularity was nation-wide by that time. There was a certain gamble in it for John. If their "Reagan" failed in the election or even bombed as a president, John would loose a part of his credibility.

Alas, it all went well and USA could enjoy another eight years of stability. And their partners as well, for that matter. It was in this time when it became clear that USA had caught up with UK in the area of mixing magic with technology. Israel and other countries were right behind these two but all the big innovations and "inventions" were happening in America.

One of the biggest ones was a latest iteration of the project conducted by Harry Black, his brother Billy, and their colleagues. They introduced a prototype of an FTL vessel. Sure, the "vessel" was only twice as large as a tennis ball, travelled only a meter, and had to be used inside a special support apparatus. Moreover, he himself had to provide an initial spark to engage its "engine" but he theorized that this inconvenience could be circumvented in future.

* * *

Over next several years, a few whispers of the activity of the undead Death Eater appeared. From Vladimir, there was no word. Stefan had to admit that he was probably dead. The fortunate thing was that the Death Eater wasn't in a position of an heir of Voldemort. He was a successor of the Romanian ancient, if anything. Still, it was clear that he needed to be dealt with.

The only way to do it was to calibrate the detection network. Preliminary theoretical groundwork made with help of ordinary semi-ancients revealed that it was never going to be possible to pinpoint an exact location of a last generation ancient. However, two (or more) neighbouring triangles could be (theoretically) combined to compute the most probable direction from which a signal was coming. With an assumption that the enemy was somewhere on the surface of the Earth, that could be used to determine a zone of probability of a vampire's presence. Critics claimed that by the time they were able to actually do that, the Death Eater would have his own starship built.

Either way, it was something that couldn't be done without Rufus Feller. That was like making a deal with a devil to defeat a demon. Aro's career had began in a similar way and he wasn't even an ancient.

* * *

John's second term as a governor ended and he didn't run again. He wasn't surprised much when he was invited to Camp David shortly afterwards.

He was the only representative of the Cullen family and the Quileute tribe at the meeting. On the other hand, Eleazar was present.

Hermione was the only guest from over the pond. That didn't surprise John - the current PM preferred hands-off approach to anything magical. Hermione was there only as an observer anyway. What was a tiny bit more surprising was that only one goblin was present.

Mr. Smith and a few of his friends from military and such couldn't be absent, of course. The former Auror was becoming more and more of a politician with his advancing age.

The president asked what were John's plans.

"I'm free, if that's what are you asking," answered John. "I assume that we are here to talk strategy for the next election?"

"That and more," confirmed Smith.

They told him that they wanted him to run.

"I was under impression that you didn't like my engagement in politics," reminded them John.

"It worked out in the end," shrugged a general. "Also, the advantage of you being a Native American outweighs the moral dilemma of a superhuman meddling in mundane politics."

"Well, I'm rather pale."

"Which should increase your chances with right wingers."

"Very well, let's do it," consented John. "I'll need to ask my wife but I have a feeling that she'll say yes."

They discussed the current situation. Remnants of the old establishment (aka Feller's former friends) were getting desperate. They had expected to regain the control of the White House and they were loosing the Congress instead. Desperate people were prone to doing desperate things.

"Have they decided on a candidate yet?" asked John.

"It's not confirmed yet but Stefan told us that they intend to use one of their own."

"That's unexpected. Them, going out in the open like that."

Desperate people, desperate actions. Then again, it was also an opportunity to hurt them like never before.

John asked if Stefan was going to come as a consultant again. He was and not only that. Feller himself was going to get involved and pass intell to Stefan. They wondered why was the undead vampire so keen on helping them. Maybe he wanted to get rid of some of his competition. With his friends gone, he was going to be only remaining "Illuminati" left.

John was also worried about meeting Stefan face to face. One whiff of his scent and he was going to know that he wasn't an ordinary Quileute. While John suspected that Stefan and Feller were aware of the existence of dhampirs already, they probably didn't know that Bella had any descendants. Bellatrix Black was still a hated name among Voldemort sympathisers and their families. John had to be careful.

They turned their conversation to more long term matters. Everybody agreed that something needed to be done to stabilize the situation. An idea spawned among them to unveil something extraordinary.

"Not the existence of magic and wizards, of course," stated the general. "That would be worse than revealing an existence of mutants, if they were real. Something relatively smaller that won't alarm people."

Proposals were made from ridiculous reveals (unicorns or house-elves) to quite serious ones (goblin banks). That was when John made a proposal.

"Excuse me, we are looking at this the wrong way," he insisted. "If we reveal something truly small and meaningless, we will just admit that there's more. And if it's something bigger, such as revealing existence of goblins and goblin banks, provided that all goblin leaders on the planet would even green-light such a thing, would still cause significant disturbance. No, I think we should do the exact opposite and reveal something big. The biggest secret out there, in fact - dragons."

He was met with a stunned silence.

"Are you serious?" asked Hermione.

"Absolutely. It's our best and, in the end, our only option. After revealing this, there won't be anything more significant left to reveal. At the same time, it's something completely impartial and it doesn't affect lives of people in any way. It just is."

"If you do this, it will be worse than revealing existence of extraterrestrial aliens," whispered the president. He himself had never seen a dragon.

"Bigger," disagreed John. "Whether that means better or worse depends on a viewpoint. But yes, we are talking about ancient beings who watched our ancestors evolve from mice, climb on trees, and climb down again. It's going to give everybody on this planet a huge existential crisis, that's for sure."

"We can't do this unilaterally," reminded Smith. "We are going to need a permission from every major dragon colony and we are going to need to coordinate this with other countries."

"Well, at least I'll have something to do between the election and the inauguration. Besides forming the cabinet and such."

"Many wizards will consider this a risk of exposure of magic," added Hermione. "And dragon colonies are ran by wizards."

"Well, I always found wizards working with dragons somewhat different," replied John. "The only thing that could be worrisome would be if the dragons themselves were somehow against it. And from what I gathered during the year I was shovelling dragon dung, I don't think they will. That is, for as long as we don't bring any crowds to them."

"How are you even going to prove it to the public then?" asked the general.

"I'm sure my brother can arrange something. I'll talk with him about it."

As expected, Sue and others supported John's idea to become a president. His talk to James was somewhat more complicated.

"I can't promise you anything," he said. "Dragons do whatever they want. I can try to bring him to public and he might decide against it."

The dragon in question was napping right next to them. So far, he didn't show any reaction to John's idea.

They began to work on his campaign. There was quite a few independent presidents before him so the path was well trodden.

He was the first non-white presidential candidate with a real chance of wining and that was a big deal for many. At the same time, John didn't want to base his image on that.

"I know exactly what kind of a running mate I need," he told his team. "A white old conservative fart."

They found a sympathetic senator who was nearing the end of his term. He was one of the few who knew about dragons already so John didn't have to explain anything.

Stefan returned to reprise his gig as a consultant. Once it became clear who was to become the main candidate of the old establishment, Feller sent him all the pertinent information he had.

"Now, now," commented John when he opened a dossier which Stefan handed him. "We know this woman."

Both she and her husband were "lower-ranking" members of their "secret society". Unlike the others, they chose public exposure over working from shadows. It was one of the reasons why they were still alive.

Choosing a woman was an obvious play on the progressive note. John thought about how lucky they were that there had been a female president before (and that he himself wasn't white).

"What I don't understand is why she has agreed to do this," he continued.

"Read further on," replied Stefan.

The woman was running for Democrats which was no surprise. John and Sue were profiling themselves as conservatives so it only made sense for their enemies to choose to attack from that angle. All the other major candidates in the party were aware of the situation so there wasn't going to be an opportunity to damage her during the primaries. However, the truly interesting information was her health condition.

"Alzheimer?" exclaimed John. "So this is some sort of wish fulfilment before death? Or does she hope to get some sort of a miraculous cure?"

"The latter I think. While they don't know about magic, they do know that there has been a boom in many areas. I believe they believe that the source of that knowledge is extraterrestrial."

"Huh. Win or die. Quite a motivation. How does she plan to hide it?"

"How do you plan to hide your elevated temperature?"

To be honest, John was more worried about hiding his youthful appearance.

"One more thing," continued Stefan. "It's probably unrelated to this election but you should know that Rufus believes that his counterpart is pulling the string of his old friends. There's no direct evidence to this and it must be very indirect and gentle."

That was worrying. The background of one of the last Death Eaters on the planet was well researched so John was aware that he had more than enough reasons to hate everything that Potter, Granger, and John's own grandma represented and stood for. On the other hand, he was a true undead. It was improbable that he was motivated by anything from his life. And so his angle remained a mystery.

They discussed the matter shortly.

"Would Feller be willing to pay us a visit in person?" asked John afterwards.

"With you in office and personally guaranteeing his safety? Yes, I can imagine that. A very short visit."

The election was rather stressful that year. One one hand, the old establishment had lost control of all key agencies. On the other hand, they still owned the media. Those, on the other hand, weren't as trusted by American public as before.

One of the main vectors of their negative campaign against John was his body-count. They decided to go that way only after determining that neither John nor his running mate had any sex scandals in their closets and that it would be truly difficult to fabricate one. John chose to meet their criticism head on and stated on a press conference that he at least killed all those people with his own hands. He himself used some negative elements in his own campaign, such as a release of some of the dirt he had received from Stefan.

Another facet of John's campaign image was his affinity to the military. He had retired with a rank of a captain (which almost any competent officer could achieve) but he claimed that the Oval Office needed a lower ranking officer (rather than a general) from time to time. One of the things he said on the topic was that while the situation of veterans had improved slightly during the last few decades, the relationship between the military and the civilian sector still needed to improve and not just for the sake of the veterans. He claimed that they needed to be more like Israel in this regard.

"Let me share a story of a friend of mine," he spoke on one of his rallies. "He retired from the navy not only with a honourable discharge but also with a wide skill set ranging from technical to leadership related. He applied for a job and told them about his skills and experience. Do you know what they told him? They asked him if he had any real job experience. What. The. Bloody. Hell! Can you believe that?! It gave me great pleasure to help my friend to find a suitable job where he made a stellar career and saved a colleague of his from an abusive ex-husband. On a side note, the other company went under but let's not be petty. The point is, veterans have a lot to offer in their civilian life. A tremendous amount of taxpayers' dollars goes into their education and training. If they end up unemployed afterwards, then all that money was wasted."

Throughout the entire campaign, he was making hints and allusions to his intended revelation. People noticed it and various independent outlets started making theories about what could it possibly be. Slowly and surely, the election started to feel like a referendum about a release of classified information. The counter-candidate attempted to shoot such notion down but her problem was that she herself didn't know what was John talking about.

Sue, as a potential future first lady, didn't escape the spotlight, of course. As for her conduct during the campaign, John told her this, "It's you who's going to be a first lady. Not me, not my campaign team. Approach this in whatever way you want."

And that's exactly what she did and profiled herself just as unusual as her husband. Some said that people were going to scoff at the idea of having some "wild Pocahontas" in the White House but others agreed that an extraordinary president required and extraordinary first lady.

As time went on, the media repeated their observation that their children were absent from their campaign and that no one had seen their parents. John managed to avoid this topic when he was a governor but people believed that a presidential candidate should be more open.

John and Sue couldn't present their parents - they had a hard time to hide their own youth as it was. As for their children, they couldn't present most of them for various reasons. One of their sons was following in John's footsteps in the military while another one joined Teddy in magical law enforcement. A daughter of theirs worked in the Romanian dragon preserve and lived in Europe. So in the end, only their other daughter, who lived in the reservation with her husband, could make an appearance. It was going to have to be enough.

John raised some controversy when he consented to an interview with a right-wing tabloid. They asked him, how was he going to guarantee that he wasn't going to favour Native Americans and people of colour in general.

John started to laugh and answered, "For once, your lack of interest in other cultures works against you. There's no such thing as a nation of Native Americans. I'm a Quileute. So even if I operated the way you think, there would be Quileutes in the first place, then Makahs, and then all other American citizens."

At another occasion, a TV moderator decided to grill John about his obvious love for guns. While John's personal opinion was that American gun laws were complicated and needed work, especially on state level, he wasn't willing to give ground to the moderator. Instead, he turned the discussion to a topic which both of them had been involved in once: a proposed ban of barrel shrouds. It became clear that the moderator didn't know what it was. When the moment was right, John reached into his pockets and pulled out a barrel shroud and a silencer.

"Tell me, which one of these is a barrel shroud?" he demanded.

The moderator had a mild panic attack but then he made a guess and pointed at the silencer. Half of the audience started to laugh and the rest joined in even though they didn't know the answer themselves. John assured the moderator that the item was under heavy restriction already.

When the time for final debates came, there was, as usually, some confusion about who should participate. The organizers invited John and his one true counter-candidate but John demanded for the Republican one to be present as well. He threatened not to come himself otherwise. That put Republicans in a tight spot. While they were quietly supporting "the enemy", their candidate couldn't just concede without a fight.

The debates were as muddled as in the last several elections. There was no clear and definitive presentation of only two options as in the old days but of three of them instead. Moreover, John pushed through a provision that mandated the moderator to list all the other candidates whose names were going to appear on ballots at a beginning of each debate.

From a show-business point of view, the debates were a bust. They were a clear victory for John though.

The results of the election didn't surprise anybody. John and his team had made most of the preparations beforehand and almost half of the old administration was staying so there wasn't going to be much work with the transition. John still had to invite a few people to his cabinet and then they all needed to get approved.

Once the initial rush was over, John agreed to do a short interview. While it was a private one-on-one thing, John insisted on it being public domain and streamed live. As expected, the main question was the nature of the secret John intended to reveal.

"First of all, it's not an American secret," answered John. "That's good, because American people won't have any reason to panic because it's nothing that concerns us directly. It's also the reason why I will need to seek approval of my plan abroad first. However, the very knowledge will change everything for everybody on this planet and that's why I think we should make this public and why we have certain reasons to worry. The irony is, this thing wasn't even secret mere centuries ago. The difference between then and today is that people couldn't travel and see for themselves. And, of course, there was no Internet."

"What do you think is going to happen?"

"That's hard to tell. I hope that everyone will just take a vacation, sit at home, and ponder it in peace and quiet. However, there's a certain danger that a certain percentage of our population won't fully appreciate the gravity of this revelation and decide to start looting instead. We'll need to be prepared well."

"Do you intend to seek approval of the congress before you start the whole thing?"

"Possibly. After all, the revelation may have to be preceded by a declaration of martial law. However, once the international approval is given to this plan, it will be pretty much out of our hands. If we don't make it public here, Britain might do it instead. Or anybody else for that matter."

"Can you give us a forewarning about the nature of this secret?"

"Not at this time. However, I can assure you that it has nothing to do with space aliens. On the other hand, you could argue that it's much bigger and more fantastic than that. As I said, it will turn everybody's viewpoint upside down. All philosophies and religions around the world will face a great crisis and possibly a collapse. That is... Maybe with a possible exception of Islam. They can point at a certain surah and say that it was foretold. Alas, I wouldn't dare to guess."

He was talking about Al-Isra, where's it's stated that Allah gave mankind a high place, but not the highest. That was actually used by some popularizers as a proof of extraterrestrial life but it could be easily adapted for dragons as well.

John's first stop was in London where a meeting with two major colonies was held: Common Welsh Green colony and Hebridean Black one. It took some time to explain who John was and whom he represented. It took even more time to explain why they thought that it was a good course of action. While the representatives didn't doubt the ability of dragons to take care of themselves if needed, the had many objections to John's intentions.

"We don't need any nosy muggles to come peeking at the dragons," exclaimed one of them. "It would surely disturb them in their slumber and it would disturb our work."

Truth to be told, Jon was more worried about such tourists not being able to walk away on their own feet after feeling the presence of the dragons in their heads.

"Gentlemen!" he cried out. "We have no intention to tell the public where to find dragons. Instead of Common Welsh Green, we'll just say Common Green. Or nothing at all for that matter."

In the end, the representatives agreed to agree, provided that other major colonies agreed as well.

And so the gathering of "votes" began. It wasn't all up to John, of course. The Brits sent their people to Ukraine, China, and New Zealand. John's task was to approach all the European dragon colonies who wouldn't talk to the Brits. Peruvian Vipertooth was a special case. John fully intended to keep their existence protected by the Statute of Secrecy (not that they intended at the moment to reveal concrete information about any specific kinds of dragons). He was still going to visit them at the end though.

Most of the negotiations were more of the same. Befuddlement, objections, obstructions. All of them strictly prohibited any mention of their countries or their kinds of dragons. All of them gave John an agreement contingent on agreement of the others. John considered it rather childish - they had no intention of releasing the information unless the decision was unanimous.

All of them had also a problem with releasing an information that there are dragon "care takers". John believed that such an information would alleviate fears of many who would worry about dragons posing a danger to humanity. However, he agreed not to reveal this information until later, if at all.

Hermione had more luck, at least in China. The Chinese came up with an interesting idea - to actually admit the presence of Chinese Fireballs in their country. It had to admitted that no other country had such a long history with dragons and that maybe it was something that should be done. However, the authorities asked to leave that reveal to them. It needed to be done in their own time and on their own terms.

John stayed in contact with his team back home. In times between appointments, he would return to Washington D.C. to deal with the transition. Surprisingly enough, Fawkes offered his help in shipping him between America and Europe.

Media noticed that his absence (or rather that his whereabouts were unknown most of the time) and reported on it. John's running mate released a statement in which he reminded everybody that John was conducting negotiations on their behalf.

Truth to be told, the big media had enough of their own problems as it was. The owners of their owners of their owners were in disarray and not even the top ranking employees had any idea what was to become of them.

John's victory was a coup de grâce for the old establishment. There wasn't going to be any comeback for them. The individual members were still around but they lost their armour. Next time any of them stepped out of the line, people like Bella were going to have the offenders for breakfast.

John's counter-candidate herself committed a suicide rather than to suffer the debilitating disease. As an attempt of doing one last bit of damage, she left behind a note admitting her condition and stating that the government held a cure and was withholding it from her. The accusation didn't have the effect she had hoped for because people perceived it as a confession of lying about her health and of her motives for joining the race being selfish.

The meetings with European dragon keepers dragged on for so long that the one with caretakers of the Peruvian Vipertooth didn't happen until after all the work on the transition was done - a day before the inauguration, to be precise. They had heard of his progress and received his missive when it all began but they were still somewhat miffed that they were the last ones to be approached.

They strongly objected to John's plan, even though he assured them that the public was never going to hear anything about their charges. In the end, they agreed to give their silent agreement.

John returned to Washington D.C. in a middle of a welcome concert of classic American music that was held on the eve before his inauguration. Sue had been taking his place before his arrival. Once the current song was over, John took the stage and thanked the interpreters.

"I've just returned from a meeting with news concerning the big reveal I've promised," he divulged afterwards. "And as an apology for me coming late, allow me to make you the first people who will hear this announcement: Together with our British friends, we have secured all the votes needed to make this happen. And I would also like to share something that was said during the meeting today. One of the participants told me that what I intend to do can be likened to teaching a child to swim by throwing it in water. Somebody else cleared his throat then and quietly mentioned that he himself had learned how to swim in such way. Now, if you've ever been to Quileute reservation, you probably know that we like water. And for as long as our tribe existed, we knew one simple truth: One can learn to swim only by swimming. Talking about it won't help you. You need to get in water and try it. Remember that during next few months please. Now, let's enjoy the rest of this evening!"

He introduced next singer and took his seat next to his wife. As he listened, he wondered how were media going to comment on the fact that all the music was over a century old. Personally, he thought that a little of nostalgia couldn't hurt before he turned everybody's world upside-down.

John's running mate and his other colleagues didn't discus the news with him. They merely wished him good night and retired themselves. Some others did insist on meeting him though, including one who knew about the magical world. The ignorant ones had believed for the whole time that the promise of revealing classified information had been only a campaign trick. John's only serious discussion was with the one who wasn't ignorant. He asked him not to worry, go to sleep, and not to reveal to anyone that he knew more than others.

Next morning, John learned that various groups of congressmen had been having secret discussions about the situation. On top of that, a senator appeared in a morning show on some channel where he criticized John as "a young hothead who wanted to trade out American secrets to deflect attention from his own inexperience". Such an insult was so thoroughly ludicrous that John didn't even bother to react.

Crowds of people gathered for the inauguration of the first American non-white president. Their numbers led to severe jams throughout the city.

When John was sworn into office, he reflected his unbaptised status and cultural roots by using three books: Hebrew Old Testament, Christian New Testament, and the American Constitution. That was rather controversial, as his predecessors had simply used an ordinary Bible. However, John suspected that many were going to find it not modern enough.

"My fellow Americans," he said when it was time for his speech. "In this time, it's customary for a new president to reiterate the main items of his or her political program. I hope you'll forgive me when I brief you about the events of the last twelve hours instead. After my unexpected revelation, for some people at least, the said people approached me and told me what an unwise course of action was I choosing. As I've said many times, yes, there's much to worry about. I likened it to learning how to swim yesterday but perhaps another apt analogy is undergoing a medical operation. There's always some danger but you can't avoid it. Moreover, we are past the point of no return. Remember, the decision to make this public applies globally. And because we live in a globally interlinked world, our nation can't really decide to be left out of this."

He talked for two more minutes on a more practical note, including expected timetables. That was unheard of. Right after he was done, he was criticised by media for turning his inauguration speech into a briefing. People back at the reservation wondered whether it was really supposed to be a criticism.

While the nation was debating what it was all about and whether was John lying, he made his first move. Before the day was over, he pardoned several dozen veterans who were in jail or being tried for using excessive force in self-defence and similar charges.

When media found out next day, they accused him of favouritism. He released a statement saying that while justice was blind and cold, he had a duty as a president to give it eyes and heart when needed. Unbeknown to them, he was working on two hundred more pardons already but many of those were conditional (with probation).

Both the pardons and John's planned reveal were temporarily overshadowed by budget negotiations. As no party had a big enough majority (or any majority at all for that matter), nobody could try to enforce their own vision. However, the non-demorepublican representatives supported the president's proposal as usual. John opinion was that most of their standpoints and goals were going to change after his revelation and that it would be better not to commit money to projects which were going to become obsolete. In the end, a half a year deal was struck. That was potentially troublesome. John feared that the congress would find itself unable to deal with things like a budget any time soon after his revelation.

Next thing in the agenda was a proposal of martial law over US mainland to the congress. Most representatives considered it an overkill though. They stated that the national guard should be sufficient in helping the law enforcement of individual states to quell any unrest and that if deployment of regular troops was required for some disaster control, martial law wouldn't be needed for that. Some senators even cried foul and asserted that it was all a con designed to give John absolute power. Considering that the royal family in UK was already preparing people for the very same revelation, such accusations didn't have much weight. John told the congress that the decision was in their hands but that the plan was moving ahead with martial law or without it. In the meantime, he decided to pull some of their soldiers from abroad, primarily those who had families back home.

John met with Stefan again to talk about Feller coming "for a visit". John didn't intend to meet Feller face to face however. While he doubted that Feller would learn something he didn't know already, it was one thing to meet Stefan and another one to meet Feller. He asked Stefan if it was going to be a problem and Stefan shook his head. John had already arranged with Bella to handle Feller's visit.

Feller visited a research facility which worked on improving the detection network. He stayed only long enough to answer a few questions from Bella and Smith and to subject himself to some measurements. After that, he left again. Bella wondered why he was cooperating with them and giving them means to track him. Maybe he feared the Death Eater more than he feared humans.

Before the time for the revelation came, John gave another interview. He didn't reveal any further information about the nature of the secret and limited himself to advices to ordinary people (staying at home, having a supply of water for a few days, having a gun and ammo). In the end, he gave an advice which was rather revealing after all.

"Whatever you do when the secret is revealed, do not worship it," he said.

The interviewer asked for clarification but John refused to answer anything more and merely reiterated that it's not something to be worshipped.

A week later, John confirmed the previously announced date of the revelation along with some finer details. The congress still had not agreed on the martial law issue. So far, John had not told any of them what was it about. In the end, they decided to keep the troops on standby and have an emergency session right after the reveal. John warned them that his reveal alone was going to be rather unbelievable and won't mean much without an evidence.

"Hence, a proof will be presented in timely fashion after the initial statement," he told the congress. "I have no control over when or where is this presentation going to take place. However, I do believe that it won't take longer than a week."

Truth to be told, he planned to have James and his dragon friend to make an appearance in Washington D.C. right after his reveal. So far, the dragon didn't seem to disagree but they weren't sure they would be able to tell if he did.

* * *

It was the day of the big reveal. Harry visited John in the White House to tell him about James and the dragon.

"Well?" asked John and raised his eyes from an article criticizing his wife for supporting NRA.

"Can we do this in the Oval Office?" pleaded his brother.

"Why?"

"Because I've never been there. It feels to me like everybody in this family had a trip there to tell the president one thing or another. But have me and Billy were invited there to report on our progress on FTL? No sir!"

"My predecessor personally visited your facility and shook hands with both of you!"

Alas, John was already heading to the office as he said that. It was right next door.

"Well?" he prodded again.

"They are waiting in a warehouse. Fawkes is with them."

"Are you sure no one has seen you?"

"Yes, we used a truck. Luckily, he's not fully grown yet."

"Good. Go back there in case something goes wrong."

Harry nodded.

"So, how are you going to say it?" he asked after a moment.

"I'm not going to say it, I have it in writing. Three words on three big desks. There are racks for them prepared. I'll put the desks in them and reveal the second one, the third one, and finally the first. Hopefully, the proof will be presented shortly afterwards. If not, hopefully the Chinese will do that instead."

"What if the crowd panics?"

"We've got troops with sleeping gas prepared. I hope it won't come to that."

In fact, John hoped that the people were going to be paralysed by the dragon's presence. It was one way to avoid a stampede.

They shook hands and Harry wished him good luck. John walked outside where a car was waiting. Sue was inside already.

"Here goes nothing," said John when they got moving.


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue

Red alert was blaring throughout the ship.

"Quick!" yelled Edward.

It wasn't for Bella - the two of them moved faster than the doors were able to open. It was meant for a few humans who followed them.

Another hit and a subsequent explosion rocked the ship. They didn't even know what was the attacker (or attackers) firing at them.

"Carlisle and Esme!" shouted Edward in his mind and tried to raise Carlisle's communicator. It seemed that somebody answered but only noise could be heard. For a moment. Then there was nothing, only background static.

The group ran to another door. While they were waiting for the humans, the two vampires conferred telepathically. The bridge was destroyed so getting there was no longer a goal. What to do then? Try to get to a storage of thermonuclear weapons? Get to a shuttle and try to pick up Carlisle and Esme? Get to escape pods and save themselves? Was getting to escape pods going to do them any good at all? Abandon the humans running behind them because there was no chance of saving them anyway? Was Alice seeing all of it?

Decision made, Edward yelled at the humans to get to escape pods. He knew that they knew the way. They rushed through the door and split. Edward headed to a shuttle bay where he knew was a shuttle, at least according to his latest information. Bella intended to retrieve a few bombs.

Nobody got too far. The ceiling ripped open as a beam of energy lanced through it. The beam continued deeper into the ship like a hot wire through butter. That wasn't relevant to Bella at the moment though. Edward was too close to the hull-breach. Before he could grab onto something, the escaping air sucked him into the beam. He was instantly evaporated.

A lot of things went through Bella's mind during next second. First, she noted that their telepathic link was gone. It was quite disturbing, Elizabeth must had felt something similar when she had been born. She came to a full realization that Edward was dead. Damn! She was used to him. It took his death for her to realize it. Finally, there was fear for her family. If this unknown enemy killed Edward so easily, then the others were in grave danger as well.

There was no time to dwell on such things at the moment. All humans in vicinity were sucked into the vortex as well. She held on for a moment but then the entire wall crumbled and she was flying, frantically attempting to grab onto something or use her telekinesis. Just before she reached the beam, it winked off. She was ejected into outer space.

Bella twisted and took a look around. The sight was terrifying, even more so for a vampire. While a human wouldn't be able to see starships with a naked eye, Bella could (especially since there was a star in vicinity). It wasn't just a single attacker or a few of them. Their relatively small exploration vessel was surrounded by hundreds of alien warships of all sizes and shapes. More of them were warping in at the edge of her vision. It seemed that the alien FTL technology was exploiting the same physical principles as theirs did but the technical implementation was surely different.

Was it an ambush? Who were those aliens and why were they attacking them? How did they know to expect them? She could think of only one possible explanation.

She saw their ship's wizard. He was jerking around, the bubble spell around his head malfunctioning. It wasn't meant to be used in vacuum (nor there was any suitable alternative) and even if it was, he would die shortly from CO poisoning anyway. Before she could do anything, he was dead.

She tried to spot Carlisle or Esme but they were nowhere to be seen. It was probable that they were on the other side of the ship. Bella looked at the nearby star and wondered what was their trajectory. Given enough time, were all three of them going to fall into it? Were they going to orbit it for all eternity?

It didn't matter, Bella wasn't done fighting yet. There was a large piece of debris floating a few dozen metres away from her. She reached with her telekinesis and started pulling. Because the debris had more mass than she did, she pulled herself towards it more than she pulled the debris. Before too long, she reached it and grabbed onto it.

She looked at their vessel and assessed its status. It was completely ruined, secondary explosions grew more and more sporadic. The only question was if there was anything salvageable. The shuttle bay was destroyed. Pieces of the shuttle were strewn outside. It seemed that somebody had attempted to flee in it and was blasted right after leaving the door. Smaller alien ships were targeting the escape pods and there seemed to be little vessels heading towards them. She couldn't tell from the distance but they seemed like fighters and retrieval craft.

One of the larger ships fired some kind of a plasma bolt at their vessel. Bella computed that it was going to hit the storage area - the last bit of their vessel which had not crumpled yet. There went the idea of retrieving a suitcase bomb and using it to blow up one of the enemy ships. Moreover, what good would it do?

Bella picked one of the closest larger ships which wasn't accelerating. She climbed to a right spot and then pushed away with her legs as quickly as she could. The metal under her feat held and Bella shot towards the enemy ship at quite a high speed. It was something over ten kilometres away so it was going to take a few minutes. Bella hoped that the ship wasn't going to engage its engines during that time. Maybe she should have brought a piece of debris with her so she could correct her heading later on by throwing it away.

She observed as the fighters started killing off any survivors. A few of the escape pods were spared only to be captured. Bella wondered why did they bother. The pods had nowhere to go after all.

She wondered how did the sensors of the enemy's ships work. Her vampire skin was highly reflective. Any active scan was going to light her up.

Bella noted several small craft a while later. They seemed to be headed her way. It was confirmed a while later - they were after her. She prepared to grab them with telekinesis but they remained beyond her range. That was a strange coincidence. Her earlier theory grew more and more probable.

The big ship turned and when she was two kilometres away, it engaged its engines and accelerated away from her. She was still moving towards it but their relative speed was lower than before. It accelerated again when she was a kilometre away and then again at a half a kilometre mark. In the end, Bella, the ship, and all the small craft remained absolutely motionless relatively to each other.

There seemed to be some activity on the surface of the ship. All Bella saw were spacesuits but it was obvious that the aliens weren't humanoid. That was hardly a surprise. A true surprise was that there was extraterrestrial life similar enough to use spacesuits and ships. Somehow, Bella couldn't appreciate the gravity of such a discovery at the moment. However, she did note that the aliens seemed to be similar to arthropods, as far as she could tell.

After a while of observing them, she concluded that they were performing some changes on one of their cannons. When they were done, the crew scampered away and the cannon charged. There was a bright, intense light. Immense pain permeated Bella's body. What happened next wasn't entirely impossible for vampires but it was most certainly unusual. She was knocked out.

* * *

There was never another war with vampires or dark wizards, only isolated incidents here and there. The second chance the undead Death Eater was waiting for never came. As for Feller, his influence never outgrew that of, let's say, Eldridge.

The revelation of existence of dragons had the effect that had been predicted - a global collapse with various smaller ones inside it. Alas, they weren't as severe as, let's say, the stock collapse of 1929. There was almost no bloodshed and no great economical depression. Some historians later coined a term "The Great Velvet Collapse" but it never caught on.

Younger generations which didn't remember a world without dragons were born and before too long, such a world became a history. Old people told their grandchildren stories about what was it like when dragons became public.

After same time, existence of goblins (and their banks) became known as well. Gradually, it started to dawn on non-magical people that there were more things in their world which they had not known about. Alas, that's a different story.

There are two things pertinent to Bella's current situation: advances in detection of undeads and space travel. As predicted, before they fine-tuned their detection network, the last Death Eater in the world left Earth. He didn't stick to any established colonies and kept moving instead, acting through his fledglings.

Ship mounted sensors capable of finding him were developed. FTL technology was in its beginnings and everybody was quite sure that he didn't have access to it. However, when his ship was finally found, it was already accelerating away from the Solar System. Most of his followers were on board.

Missiles with nuclear warheads were launched on an intersecting trajectory. A while later, a probe was launched to track the whole thing. As it turned out, the fleeing vessel made a course correction which resulted in a miss by thousands of kilometres. It was pointless to send more missiles due to laws of relativity. Utilizing the FTL technology was the only option.

The only ship capable of pursuing them and safely returning was at the time away at its maiden voyage, exploring the Alpha Centauri star system. This mission led by Jasper and Alice was actually the first FTL voyage to other stars conducted by humankind. Another ship similar to it was being built however. After some deliberation, it was decided not to recall the first one. The second would be prepared for pursuit before the first one would return and undergo the necessary maintenance and refitting.

In the meantime, the probe reached the end of the acceleration trajectory. The ship carrying the vampires had burnt almost all of its fuel and reached near light speed. That was relatively good. Their heading was known and they didn't have much fuel to change it. Moreover, everybody on board was suffering from the relativistic effects but those weren't probably severe enough to mean much to vampires.

A debate ensued. Should the Death Eater be pursued and destroyed? In the depths of space, it was almost impossible with their current level of technology to find something as small as a ship. Sure, the exact heading was known but even a minuscule course correction could create a gigantic aberration given enough time.

The question remained, what was the Death Eater trying to accomplish? It seemed improbable that he intended to keep falling forever through empty space. A possible theory was that his course would swing him around several stars and then bring him home again but the mathematical models didn't suggest that alternative.

Emmett wasn't involved in the process but he made his opinion known to people close to him. He had discovered that before the original vampires had been created, the regional astronomers had recorded an unusual falling star. Emmett used the description of the event to estimate the mass and entry vector of the object. The exact position of all planets at the time could be precisely computed so it was possible to compute where the object came from, at least roughly.

There was little doubt - the object was extrasolar. Emmett reiterated his theory that it was an alien probe or scout vessel which crash landed on Earth and that the Mesopotamian necromancers extracted the original venom from its wreck.

The first ship returned when the second one was undergoing test flights. It was put into maintenance and refitting. Several of its crew-members transferred to the new ship to serve as consultants.

A good question was, which vampires should join the mission. Alice was going to stay in the Solar System and keep an eye on the ship through her ability. Bella was an obvious choice and Edward was accompanying her. Carlisle took the position of the ship doctor and was joined by Esme. He had meant to be on the previous voyage and wasn't about to be left at home again. The plan was to continue with an exploration mission after destroying their quarry. Carlisle really wished to be part of that.

No hybrids joined the mission. A lone wizard joined the task force. And a house-elf for manual FTL navigation, of course.

They jumped to the place where the vampire's ship stopped accelerating. After searching the area behind that point and launching a number of probes, they embarked on their pursuit. In theory, it was a simple task - an object in motion remains in motion unless a force is applied. So, as said before, they could compute the exact position of the Death Eater's ship. In praxis, they didn't know whether the ship had any remaining fuel left and thus capable of making another course correction at some unknown point of their voyage.

The captain of the pursuing ship planned their pursuit so that they would catch up with the enemy in a relative vicinity of a star - so they would have some light illuminating their target.

They should have gotten suspicious when they emerged from FTL behind the enemy ship (there was little point in travelling in front of it as it was travelling at near light speed) and saw that it was really there where they had expected it to be. Instead, they jumped again in front of it and prepared to attack with nuclear missiles.

Edward and Bella took station at the launch tubes. They personally programmed all warheads to detonate precisely in the moment before the enemy vessel was going to reach their position. The detonations were also designed to slow it down a little. When the moment was right, the ship fired from all tubes.

They watched from a safe distance as the ship was obliterated. And then, before they had a chance to reload, they were ambushed by unknown warships and obliterated themselves.

* * *

One moment, Bella was unconscious. Next one, she was fully awake. She guessed that such a thing was normal for a vampire who was knocked out.

She noticed three things in quick succession. The last Death Eater in the universe was standing a few meters away from her. There was some kind of a forcefield imprisoning her. They were in an alien starship.

Bella stood up and took a breath. The atmosphere was different. The Death Eater was watching her silently. It didn't seem that he was in any hurry.

She tried to reach out with her telekinesis but the barrier was blocking it. Trying to boil the Death Eater's blood seemed pointless to her and his eyes weren't very bright anyway. She refrained from attempting to read his mind for the time being.

"So it was true all along," she spoke. "There were aliens in this region."

Her jailer nodded slightly.

"They intercepted your ship and took you on board," continued Bella. "Then you used the empty vessel as a bait, even made it easy for us to find. What I don't understand how could have these aliens been so close for all this time. It should have taken you many years to reach them but it seems like they were almost waiting for you."

"They weren't close," answered the undead dryly. "However, after their probe detected sentient life on Earth right before crash landing, they thought it prudent to construct a listening post at an edge of their territory. That was quite a foresight, because they had a civil war later on, if you can use such term for their species. Their home world was destroyed and much of their empire and technology was lost, including the secret of creating the venom." After the dust settled, their hives on various colonies and outposts started to rebuild. But, it wasn't until the old listening post detected radio waves from Earth did they all unite again."

The Death Eater made a poor imitation of a smile. He didn't have to explain further. Bella was able to imagine what followed and where she wasn't sure, the Death Eater mockingly emitted the details through his mind so Bella was able to overhear it passively. It seemed like the undead creature in front of her wanted her to understand the entire picture.

Once the "bugs" had gotten back on their feet, they started to keep a lookout for anything coming their way from the Solar System. While they didn't know about the FTL trip to Alpha Centauri because it wasn't in their direction, they did detect the Death Eater's ship and even the flashes of the nuclear explosions. The rest was history.

"They weren't exactly thrilled when they saw that we have stolen their venom technology," spoke the Death Eater again. "However, unlike us, they had never managed to modify the venom to be applicable on living subjects. For them, it was just a technology for building ship hulls. Not enough metal ores on their home-world, you see."

Bella understood. The lethality of the substance wasn't a problem for the Mesopotamian necromancers. Then, through many dilutions and filtrations, it started to work even without necromancy.

She noted that the ship they were on was made of metal. The aliens had no reason to resort to something alternative like before - plenty of ores in colonies and asteroids.

"Our venom is not compatible with their physiology. Yet. Once they adapt it, they'll apply it to some of their warriors. That's the only reason why are we still here and not back in the Solar System."

"They are planning an invasion," observed Bella.

It wasn't so hard to understand. They had found out that humanity was more advanced than they had thought. Moreover, the idea of billions of individually thinking creatures probably seemed scary to a civilisation with anthill-like organisation and mentality.

"We are planning an invasion," corrected the Death Eater.

Bella noted his reaction for later and asked, "Why would they need vampirized warriors?"

"Oh, they could destroy every ship and station in the Solar System and glass Earth from orbit. But what would that gain them? If they can't plant grain somewhere than they can't hold it. Then there's no reason to hold it. In other words, they need troops capable of combating your own superhuman assets."

Bella was silent. She had to admit, if humans knew where the alien home world was and could destroy it, they would. The Death Eater was still willing to talk so she returned to her earlier observation.

"What do you hope to gain out of this?"

"After we reached an agreement of cooperation, they decided to make me an overseer of Earth."

"Just Earth? Not the entire Solar System?"

"No, I was never interested in that."

Bella watched him studiously for a few moments.

"Your goals seem to be rather shifty," she accused him. "First you served Voldemort, then Romanians, then yourself for a while, and now some arthropod aliens. It seems to me like you don't have any actual goals. It almost looks like your every endeavour is a revenge for failing in the previous one."

The undead Death Eater didn't answer. He felt no need to. As an undead, he didn't feel anything at all.

"Tell me," pressed Bella. "Is this all about your wife?"

"That's where it started," confirmed the Death Eater dryly. "I wouldn't have sought the Romanians otherwise."

"Oh come on! Don't tell me that you two loved each other. You weren't capable of that even when you were alive."

"No. But she was mine. She was supposed to give birth to my heir and raise him to be a proper wizard. British soldiers killed her before she could do any of that. She wasn't even a combatant."

"That's what happens when you start a war. It's not like you guys differentiated between combatant and civilians."

"Regardless, you could have saved yourselves a lot of trouble only if those soldiers exercised some restraint. If Dumbledore was alive, he would tell you the same. He would tell you that such an escalation of violence was a bad idea."

Bella sneered at the mention of the old headmaster.

"If you only took his lesson, you wouldn't be here," added the Death Eater.

"Sure, because I would have died a million times over in the meantime," declaimed Bella.

There wasn't much to be gained by continuing the conversation. Maybe the Death Eater was going to tell her how he was going to destroy anybody connected to her back on Earth. Maybe he was going to tell her how the bugs were going to dissect her and examine her venom and DNA. It didn't matter.

She assaulted his mind in full force. He wasn't expecting that and it took him a moment before he repelled the attack. She didn't fight him, she learned all she needed already.

The entire fleet was still in formation, orbiting around the same star where their ship was destroyed. Bella knew that this fleet needed to be stopped at all cost to give Earth time to prepare. The only question was, how to do that?

If she was a human, she would be able to use the power of the killing curse to destroy the vampire along with her prison and the whole room. As a vampire, she couldn't emit the power out of her body though.

However, there was another way to use it. She had told about it to the Cullens that fateful day when she revealed her magic to them. Emmett found it highly exciting and likened it to a self-destruct device of a Predator. It was one way to think about it but this time around, Bella wasn't motivated by a desire not to let the other side win.

For the first time, Bella completely understood Lily Potter's sacrifice. And now, she was going to follow her example. Only somewhat differently. She hoped that Carlisle and Esme weren't going to be caught in it.

The Death Eater was scolding her for reading his mind. Bella paid no attention to him. She gathered all her magic and unleashed it.

Her own body was annihilated in the first nanosecond. The green energy reached the forcefield around and not only passed right through it but also spread along it, converting it to more of itself. The undead vampire was vaporized before his senses and brain could process what was happening. The wave spread throughout the ship. Any piece of metal conducted it like electricity before exploding. Any source of energy was added to the wave.

The ship exploded like a nova. The exotic energy lanced to nearest starships and spread from them in a chain reaction. It all happened so unexpectedly and quickly that none of them had a chance to activate engines and try to escape. A short while later, only dust was left of the fleet.

THE END


End file.
